Midsized shipbuilder Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, an affiliate of Hyundai Heavy Industries, announced Thursday that the company has attracted a 400 billion won ($355.4 million) pre-initial public offering investment from a local private equity firm, IMM Private Equity.

The pre-IPO investment is 100 million won more than what was originally offered by the equity firm in April. The deal is expected to lower Hyundai Samho’s debt ratio from the current 96.4 percent to 72.8 percent, according to a press release from the company. The lowered debt ratio means the company will have the highest level of financial soundness among Korean midsized shipbuilders.

“I think the shipbuilding industry has already reached a recovery point after passing the historic low point, so there is an increasing demand for a pre-IPO investment in Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries,” said an official from IMM PE.

The pre-IPO deal is slated to be completed by the end of this month, the company said.

Earlier this year, Hyundai Samho announced it had accepted an order by Russian shipping company Sovcomflot to build four tankers that run on liquefied natural gas -- the first large vessels in the world to run on LNG.

The deal is estimated to be worth some $240 million. The first ship is expected to be delivered to Russia near the end of next year.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)