[Aju News DB]
Hanjin Shipping disclosed a deal Tuesday to sell parts of its container shipping business including the US-Asia route and related assets to Korea Line, a minor domestic bulk carrier.
The shipper said in a regulatory filing that Korea Line would acquire Hanjin's business of the Pacific shipping route as well as related customer management and operation information.
Korean Line would also take over Hanjin's subsidiaries and logistics management systems in the United States, China, Vietnam and four other countries. The asset sale will be completed on January 5.
The deal did not Hanjin's 54 percent stake in Total Terminals International (TTI), which operates two US facilities in Long Beach and Seattle, and handles some 30 percent of cargo along the US West Coast. Hanjin has been allowed to sell the stake, but preemption held by Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping, the second largest shareholder, could be a legal hurdle.
A Seoul bankruptcy court has selected Korea Line as the preferred bidder for Hanjin's assets, betraying market expectations. Through the acquisition, Korea Line, acquired by SM Group in November 2013, would become the country's second-largest shipping line.
The court found Korea Line was financially better than Hyundai, which had been favored by financial officials seeking to realign South Korea's shipping industry. Hyundai posted a third-quarter operating loss of 230 billion won,
To beef up its competitiveness in the global shipping industry, Hyundai is trying to join the world's second largest shipping alliance 2M that helps a cargo carrier to save costs by sharing ships and networks.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
![[INTERVIEW] State agency cautions against early optimism in S. Korean shipping industry](https://image.ajunews.com/content/image/2021/07/02/20210702104135378059.jpg)