Creditors seek to sell Hyundai Cement stake

Creditors of Hyundai Cement seek to sell their majority stake in the South Korean cement producer as early as July, according to local news reports.

State-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), the largest stakeholder of Hyundai Cement with a 27.94 per cent stake, and other creditor banks including KEB Hana Bank hold a combined 95 per cent stake.

The speeding up of the sales process comes as uncertainties over the cement maker’s payment guarantee in the Pi City development project have been recently resolved, said KDB spokesman Cho Seong-wook. However, he refuted local reports that said the sales could begin in July, adding “details regarding the timing of the sales process have not been decided yet.”

Just last month, South Korea’s Harim Group decided to buy the site for the Pi City project, located near Yangjae intersection in southern Seoul, for KRW452.5bn (US$381m) to turn the old terminal site to a logistics and commercial area.

Potential bidders for Hyundai Cement are peer rivals such as Asia Cement and Hanil Cement and private equity companies such as Pine Tree Investment and Management, Han and Co and Glenwood PE.