Creditors of Kumho Tire Co. said Friday that they have agreed to sell the country's No. 2 tiremaker to a Chinese tiremaker which was chosen as the preferred bidder in mid-January.
The creditors, led by the state-run Korea Development Bank, said they will sign a deal with Chinese tiremaker Qingdao Doublestar Co. on Monday to sell their combined 42.1 percent stake in Kumho Tire.
The logo of Kumho Tire (Yonhap)
Qingdao Doublestar has reportedly offered to buy Kumho Tire for some 1 trillion won ($864 million), but the creditors did not reveal the exact value of the deal.
The creditors will soon give notice to Park Sam-koo, chairman of Kumho Asiana Group, parent of the tiremaker, who has a priority option to buy back the affiliate.
Park has a month to make a decision after getting the related notice from the creditors.
Industry sources expect Park to set up a special purpose company to buy back Kumho Asiana with the help of a few financial investors.
Kumho Tire was placed under a creditor-led workout program in 2009, with its parent Kumho Asiana hit hard by a liquidity crunch from the takeover of Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co. (Yonhap)