Daewoo Electronics sale faces legal hurdle

SEOUL, June 23 (Yonhap) -- A major shareholder of the disqualified preferred bidder for Daewoo Electronics Corp. has sought a court injunction to regain its status, sources said Thursday, raising worries over a further delay in the company's sale.
Daewoo Electronics creditors sealed a contract in November with Iranian electronics firm Entekhab Industrial Group to sell their combined 97.5 percent stake, but they stripped Entekhab of its status after the company missed the May deadline to pay for the takeover.
According to the sources, Entekhab's biggest shareholder filed an injunction with a Seoul court, requesting creditors to maintain Entekhab's status as the prime bidder for the No. 3 electronics maker in South Korea.
If the court grants an injunction, the Daewoo Electronics sale will be delayed once more, following three botched deals since the former Daewoo Group subsidiary entered a debt restructuring program in 1999.
"We haven't figured out whether Entekhab wants its deposits back or is still interested in the sale. Creditors will arrange a countermeasure through talks," said an official at one of the creditors.
Entekhab paid 57.8 billion won (US$53.7 million) in deposits when it signed the 577.7 billion won deal to take over Daewoo Electronics' assets and debts.
Creditors said recently they have been in talks with Electrolux AB on the sale of Daewoo Electronics. The Swedish electronics firm is the second preferred bidder for the sale.
Electrolux bid 600 billion won in April and offered to pay 30 billion won more in September when the creditors were in negotiations with the Iranian company.
mil@yna.co.kr