發布日期:2023-02-01 14:13:17
Ssangbangwool Group headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of Newsis
By Baek Byung-yeul
Ssangbangwool Group has joined the acquisition race for SsangYong Motor, which is up for sale again after a takeover deal with Edison Motors fell through, according to company officials, Friday.
The group said it recently conveyed its intention to acquire SsangYong Motor to accounting company, EY Hanyoung, the lead manager of the deal. The group plans to submit a letter of intent to the accounting firm next week.
"It is true that we have officially entered the bid to acquire SsangYong Motor. We are actively considering it," a Ssangbangwool Group spokeswoman said.
"We already expressed our intention to EY Hanyoung. We plan to submit a letter of intent sometime next week," the spokeswoman added.
The group said it has enough funds for the acquisition. "After we submit an official letter of intent next week, we will be able to elaborate on the amount involved in the acquisition of SsangYong Motor," the official said.
Ssangbangwool Group set up a taskforce to take over SsangYong Motor after news came out that Edison Motors failed to acquire the debt-ridden SUV maker. Ssangbangwool is widely known in Korea as an underwear maker.
The group will push to acquire SsangYong Motor by forming a consortium comprised of its affiliates including Kanglim, a heavy-duty electric vehicle maker. Other than Kanglim, the group's entertainment subsidiary IOK Company and optical component manufacturing subsidiary Nanos are also expected to join the consortium.
In 2021, Ssangbangwool Group dropped out of an acquisition race for the country's budget carrier Eastar Jet. But the group is known to have no problem raising funds for acquisition deals, as it had secured 100 billion won ($82.2 million) worth of capital at that time and still holds that amount.
Due to news about Ssangbangwool Group's acquisition consideration, Kanglim's stock price rose 30 percent to 3,510 won, the highest possible daily increase. Ssangbangwool's stock price is also at 1,010 won, up 29.4 percent from the previous day.SsangYong Motor's headquarters in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of SsangYong Motor
On March 28, SsangYong announced it canceled the deal to sell a controlling stake to a consortium led by a local electric bus maker, Edison Motor. Edison was supposed to pay 274.3 billion won to acquire SsangYong Motor by March 25, but it failed to do so.
SsangYong filed for court receivership in December 2020, after failing to repay around 160 billion won worth of loans and subsequently its Indian owner, Mahindra & Mahindra, put the company up for sale.
In November 2021, Edison Motors and SsangYong signed a memorandum of understanding for the purchase and the Seoul Bankruptcy Court approved the Edison-led consortium to take over SsangYong in January. Initially, Edison planned to attract financial investors to raise funds, but the company has been struggling with securing enough funds for the acquisition.
Regarding Ssangbangwool Group's plan to acquire the SUV maker, a SsangYong Motor spokesman refused to give a detailed answer, saying "we have nothing to say at the moment."