ID :
191550
Tue, 06/28/2011 - 13:07
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/191550
The shortlink copeid
CJ Group picked as prime bidder for Korea Express
(ATTN: RECASTS lead; UPDATES with more info in paras 4-6, 10-12)
SEOUL, June 28 (Yonhap) -- Creditors of Korea Express Co. said Tuesday they picked CJ Group as the preferred bidder for South Korea's largest logistics company, setting up what would be the country's biggest takeover deal this year.
The creditors of Korea Express, led by Korea Development Bank (KDB), closed the bidding on Monday for a combined 37.6 percent stake in the company in a deal which could fetch more than 1.5 trillion won (US$1.4 billion).
A consortium led by top steelmaker POSCO and leading food conglomerate CJ Group offered the final bid for Korea Express with retail giant Lotte Group pulling out of the bidding.
KDB said creditors will clinch a deal with CJ Group in July with an aim to complete the sale no later than early September.
Market watchers speculated that CJ Group offered higher prices with more than 200,000 won per share, outbidding a consortium of POSCO and Samsung SDS Co. and raising concerns that the group may face difficulty in financing the deal.
"We will make efforts to nurture Korea Express into Asia's leading logistics company," CJ Group said in a statement. "As we will utilize our non-core assets in financing the deal, there will be no problem in terms of financial health after the takeover."
The race to buy Korea Express has been complicated as Samsung SDS, an information technology service unit of Samsung Group, said Thursday that it would team up with leading steelmaker POSCO to buy the logistics firm. Samsung SDS planned to buy a 4.99 percent stake in Korea Express.
CJ Group has been unnerved by Samsung SDS' move to join the race as Samsung Securities Co., the group's former takeover advisor, dropped out of its deal with CJ Group, saying that it and Samsung SDS are affiliates of Samsung Group.
CJ Group is determined to file a lawsuit against Samsung Securities Co. on suspicions that the brokerage house may leak information which it got from arranging the takeover to Samsung SDS and this might result in losses for CJ Group.
CJ Group's efforts to purchase Korea Express come as the group is pushing to boost its logistics business by merging with its existing logistics unit CJ GLS.
But shares of Korea Express tumbled on Tuesday on market speculation that a takeover by POSCO might have bigger business synergy than that by CJ Group.
Shares of Korea Express fell by the daily limit of 15 percent to close at 111,000 won on the main bourse. Stocks of CJ Group fell 9.88 percent to 73,000 won.
KDB, the main creditor of cash-strapped Kumho Asiana Group, is seeking to sell the stake in Korea Express that the group's two subsidiaries, Asiana Airlines Inc. and Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., hold in a bid to wrap up the restructuring of the group.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
SEOUL, June 28 (Yonhap) -- Creditors of Korea Express Co. said Tuesday they picked CJ Group as the preferred bidder for South Korea's largest logistics company, setting up what would be the country's biggest takeover deal this year.
The creditors of Korea Express, led by Korea Development Bank (KDB), closed the bidding on Monday for a combined 37.6 percent stake in the company in a deal which could fetch more than 1.5 trillion won (US$1.4 billion).
A consortium led by top steelmaker POSCO and leading food conglomerate CJ Group offered the final bid for Korea Express with retail giant Lotte Group pulling out of the bidding.
KDB said creditors will clinch a deal with CJ Group in July with an aim to complete the sale no later than early September.
Market watchers speculated that CJ Group offered higher prices with more than 200,000 won per share, outbidding a consortium of POSCO and Samsung SDS Co. and raising concerns that the group may face difficulty in financing the deal.
"We will make efforts to nurture Korea Express into Asia's leading logistics company," CJ Group said in a statement. "As we will utilize our non-core assets in financing the deal, there will be no problem in terms of financial health after the takeover."
The race to buy Korea Express has been complicated as Samsung SDS, an information technology service unit of Samsung Group, said Thursday that it would team up with leading steelmaker POSCO to buy the logistics firm. Samsung SDS planned to buy a 4.99 percent stake in Korea Express.
CJ Group has been unnerved by Samsung SDS' move to join the race as Samsung Securities Co., the group's former takeover advisor, dropped out of its deal with CJ Group, saying that it and Samsung SDS are affiliates of Samsung Group.
CJ Group is determined to file a lawsuit against Samsung Securities Co. on suspicions that the brokerage house may leak information which it got from arranging the takeover to Samsung SDS and this might result in losses for CJ Group.
CJ Group's efforts to purchase Korea Express come as the group is pushing to boost its logistics business by merging with its existing logistics unit CJ GLS.
But shares of Korea Express tumbled on Tuesday on market speculation that a takeover by POSCO might have bigger business synergy than that by CJ Group.
Shares of Korea Express fell by the daily limit of 15 percent to close at 111,000 won on the main bourse. Stocks of CJ Group fell 9.88 percent to 73,000 won.
KDB, the main creditor of cash-strapped Kumho Asiana Group, is seeking to sell the stake in Korea Express that the group's two subsidiaries, Asiana Airlines Inc. and Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., hold in a bid to wrap up the restructuring of the group.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
