Kumho Asiana chairman Park Sam-koo is making a last-ditch effort to bring former affiliates back together with the acquisitions of Kumho Buslines and Kumho Industrial.
The 70-year-old Park is in final negotiations with a private equity fund jointly run by IBK Securities and KStone Partners, which hold a 100 percent stake in Kumho Buslines, to retake the intercity bus transportation unit, according to sources on Tuesday.
“The two sides are bargaining over the price and an extension of the payment due date,” a Kumho Asiana Group official said.
Kumho Asiana Group chairman Park Sam-koo. (Yonhap)
Chairman Park, a member of the Kumho Group’s founding family, has shown a strong will to retake Kumho Buslines as it is seen as symbolic by the transport conglomerate.
In February, the IBK private equity fund suggested an acquisition deal worth an estimated 480 billion won ($437 million) to Kumho Asiana Group as it has the right of first refusal for the acquisition of the bus operator.
The group should make the payment by midnight on Tuesday if it wants to retake the bus unit.
“It is unlikely that Kumho Group will make that payment by Tuesday,” a source familiar with the deal said.
“There are some options such as a rebid or extending the payment date if the group fails to do so,” he said.
According to market watchers, Park has been struggling to finance the takeovers of both Kumho Buslines and Kumho Industrial, which were torn away in a liquidity crisis.
In early May, creditors of Kumho Industrial began talks with Park to sell a 57.48 percent stake in the de facto holding company of Kumho Asiana Group.
The creditors reportedly plan to sell their controlling stake for around 790 billion won, which adds a 100 percent premium to its market value as the deal would entail control of Asiana Airlines through cross-shareholding.
Kumho Industrial has a 30.1 percent stake in Asiana, South Korea’s second-largest airline. Asiana in turn controls other affiliates and holds a 46 percent stake in low-cost carrier Air Busan and a bus terminal operator.
By Park Han-na (
hnpark@heraldcorp.com)
