Doosan Heavy sells 200 bln won in treasury shares

SEOUL, June 26 (Yonhap) -- Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., South
Korea's biggest power-equipment maker, said Friday it has sold 3 million treasury
shares for around 200 billion won (US$154 million) to improve its balance sheet.

The company sold the shares at 66,100 won each, a 3.5 percent discount from
Thursday's closing price, prior to the market's opening. Treasury shares refer to
stock which the issuing company buys back and holds.
Shares of Doosan Heavy were trading at 65,500 won on the Seoul bourse as of 11:32
a.m., down 4.38 percent.
"We unloaded the shares to improve our overall balance sheet to win more orders,"
said an official at Doosan Heavy.
Earlier this week, Doosan Heavy said it is seeking to take over Czech turbine
maker Skoda Power in a deal expected to be worth about 800 billion won.
But the official denied market speculation that the sale of the treasury shares
was aimed at financing the deal.
"As of end-March, we have 1.1 trillion won in cash and cash equivalents. Doosan
Heavy will not have to spend more than 100 billion won to acquire the Czech
company, as our affiliates are joining the deal as well," he said.
sam@yna.co.kr
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