[Courtesy of Hyundai Merchant Marine]
South Korea's second largest container carrier Hyundai Merchant Marine is interested in acquiring some assets of its domestic rival Hanjin Shipping which has been put under court receivership to avoid bankruptcy, industry sources said Tuesday.
A Seoul court last week kickstarted the process of selling Hanjin's assets. Bidding manager Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers said it would receive letters of intent by October 28 and written proposals on November 7.
The court's move came as a cargo crisis caused by Hanjin's court receivership in late August showed signs of easing. The sale is aimed at reducing Hanjin's debt estimated at six trillion (5.3 billion US dollars) at the end of June.
Before Hanjin was placed under receivership, the shipper was the world's seventh-largest container carrier. Market watchers believe potential buyers will be interested in Hanjin's assets including ships and overseas operations.
Hyundai Merchant controlled by creditors plans to submit a preliminary bid for Hanjin's assets including its Asia-US route which has generated sales of up to four trillion won annually, sources said.
With its global service crumbling, Hanjin will be kicked out of a global shipping alliance. Financial regulators once suggested Hyundai Merchant could acquire healthy assets from Hanjin to maintain the competitiveness of South Korea's embattled shipping industry.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
