Creditors to allow new bidders for Hynix stake

SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- Shareholders of Hynix Semiconductor Inc. said Wednesday that they will allow more bidders to join a final bidding for the chipmaker in a bid to secure the fairness and transparency of the sale process.
Creditors-turned-shareholders of Hynix said on Tuesday that they will proceed to sell a 15 percent stake in the world's No. 2 memory chipmaker as planned despite a decision by shipbuilding giant STX Group to drop out of the bidding process.
STX Group's departure left top mobile carrier SK Telecom as the sole bidder for the stake, estimated at around 1.5 trillion won (US$1.3 billion).
In an attempt to dismiss speculation that SK Telecom will make a solo bidding, the shareholders said that they will expand opportunities to new prospective bidders to join a final bidding slated for Oct. 24.
"Shareholders are discussing the methods and the process to sell the chipmaker and have decided to allow hopeful firms to join the bidding in an effort to promote the fairness and transparency of the sale," said an official at Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), the main creditor.
But KEB said that even if new potential buyers bid on the stake, the shareholders cannot change the sale schedule.
The shareholders plan to close the bidding on Oct. 24 with hopes of picking a preferred buyer by late next month.
The creditors' two previous attempts to sell off the stake hit snags 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.