Creditors of Hyundai Cement under a debt workout program seek to sell their majority stake in the company as early as July, local news reports said Tuesday.

State-run Korea Development Bank, the largest stakeholder of Hyundai Cement with 27.94 percent stake, and other creditor banks including KEB Hana Bank hold a combined 95 percent stake in the Korean maker of cement and ready-mix concrete.



The speeding up of the sales process comes as uncertainties over the cement maker’s payment guarantee in the Pi City development project have been recently resolved, KDB spokesman Cho Seong-wook said.

However, he refuted local reports that said the sales could begin in July, adding “details regarding the timing of the sales process have not been decided yet.”

Just last month, Korea’s Harim Group decided to buy the site for the Pi City project, located near Yangjae intersection in southern Seoul, for 452.5 billion won ($380.5 million) to turn the old terminal site to a logistics and commercial area.

Potential bidders for Hyundai Cement are peer rivals and private equities. They could include Asia Cement, Hanil Cement, United Asset Management Company, a manger of nonperforming loans, and private equities Pine Tree Investment and Management, Han & Co. and Glenwood PE.

Higher possibility of the sale of the cement maker pushed up its stock price to the daily limit. Hyundai Cement’s shares jumped 30 percent to close at 38,450 won Tuesday.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)