[Courtesy of Hyundai Merchant Marine]
Hyundai Merchant Marine, the country's second-largest shipper controlled by creditors, and four other contenders were in the race Friday to acquire assets of South Korea's debt-stricken Hanjin Shipping.
Hyundai Merchant said it has submitted a preliminary bid to buy Hanjin's lucrative Asia-US route. "We took various ways into consideration to bolster our competitiveness, including the acquisition of Hanjin Shipping's assets and manpower," the shipper said in a regulatory filing.
Hyundai Merchant promised to decide on its participation in the second bidding on November 7 after conducting a due diligence survey. Other candidates are SM (Samla Midas) Group, the Korea Shipowners Association (KSA), Hahn and Company, and an unidentified private equity fund.
SM acquired Korea Line Corp., the country's fourth-largest shipper, in November 2013 and a controlling stake in Samsun Logix in September this year. The KSA plans to form a consortium of association members. Hahn and Company, a domestic fund, controls H-Line Shipping.
Hanjin has been allowed to sell its 54-percent stake in Total Terminals International, which operates two US facilities in Long Beach and Seattle. The troubled company was also allowed to close its European operations.
Hanjin, which filed for court receivership on August 31, has been under pressure to speed up the sale of assets and a cut in its manpower. Its debt was estimated at six trillion (5.2 billion US dollars) at the end of June.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
