Creditors of Hynix Semiconductor to stick to sale schedule

SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) -- Shareholders of Hynix Semiconductor Inc. said Tuesday that they will proceed to sell the chipmaker as planned despite a decision by a potential buyer to drop out of the bidding process.
Shipbuilding giant STX Group said on Monday that it will pull out of the bidding to buy the world's No. 2 memory chipmaker, citing global uncertainty and huge investment burdens. The decision left top mobile carrier SK Telecom as the sole bidder for a controlling 15 percent stake in the chipmaker.
"Creditors-turned-shareholders of Hynix have decided to move forward with the sale in the face of market concerns that the process would not go smoothly," Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) said in a statement.
The shareholders planned to close the bidding on Oct. 24 with hopes of picking a preferred buyer by late next month.
The statement came as STX Group announced it would drop out of the bidding process. This raised market speculation that the sale, estimated at around 1.5 trillion won (US$1.32 billion), may falter again due to the lack of suitors.
The creditors' two previous attempts to sell off the stake hit a snag as volatile business conditions for the chipmaking sector and huge investments made potential investors wary of buying the company.
The creditors pumped $4.6 billion into Hynix through debt-equity swaps in 2001 and 2002 to keep it afloat.