[THE INVESTOR] Two local car rental companies have emerged as favorites to acquire home appliance vendor Tongyang Magic, as the short-listed seven potential buyers in preliminary bidding have been revealed, Money Today reported Aug 26.

AJ Networks and SK Networks made it to the second round of bidding and were thought to be favored by Tongyang Magic’s management.

NH Investment & Securities, the main manager of the takeover deal, narrowed the field to a shortlist of seven bidders, including the two car rental firms, Hyundai Department Store Group, Unid and CJ Group as well as two private equity firms -- CVC Capital and TPG Capital. 



The final round of bidding is expected to be held in the middle of September after five weeks of due diligence.

A consortium of Glenwood Private Equity and NH PE bought a 100 percent stake in Tongyang Magic for 280 billion won (US$251.3 million) in 2014.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)