Creditors to target sale of Asiana Airlines, budget arms in 6 months-KDB (updated)
16/04/2019 06:25
* Creditors to come up with financial support plan by April
25-KDB
chief
* Asiana shares extend rally, jump as much as nearly 30 pct
(Adds comments by KDB chief and Asiana share move)
SEOUL, April 16 (Reuters) - Asiana Airlines' 020560.KS
creditors are working on a financial support plan for the
debt-laden South Korean carrier that would target a sale of the
airline and its two budget affiliates over the next six months,
its main creditor said.
Lee Dong-gull, chairman of Korea Development Bank (KDB),
told a briefing on Tuesday that the creditors plan to a come up
with a financial plan for the carrier by April 25, with a goal
to sign a preliminary deal in late April or early May.
Shares of Asiana jumped by as much as nearly 30 percent to a
four-year high on Tuesday, extending their recent rally.
Its top shareholder, Kumho Industrial 002990.KS , said on
Monday that it plans to sell its entire 33.5 percent stake,
worth 500 billion won ($440.08 million) at Monday's closing
price, to receive creditor support.
The creditors had earlier rejected Kumho's request to
provide support of 500 billion won to the airline, forcing the
conglomerate to come up with a plan to immediately sell the
crown jewel to get liquidity injection. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N21T1B1
KDB's Lee said creditors plan to provide "enough support" to
stabilise Asiana management and regain market trust, without
disclosing details.
Lee said it is "desirable" that Asiana should also sell its
units, which include two budget carrier arms, Air Busan
298690.KS and Air Seoul.
He said any buyer would still only be able to pay part of
Asiana's debt of more than 3 trillion won.
Shares of SK Networks 001740.KS , a unit of SK Group, were
up 6.6 percent on Tuesday afternoon on speculation that the
conglomerate may snap up Asiana Airlines. SK Group and Hanwha
Group, named as potential buyers in local media reports, have
strongly denied interest. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N21Y03L
Kumho Asiana Group, Asiana Airlines' parent conglomerate,
has been reeling from its aggressive acquisition spree about a
decade ago, which could see the planned sale of the flagship
unit created in 1988 ahead of the Seoul Olympics.
In an internal message, Park Sam-koo, who stepped down as
Asiana Airlines' CEO late last month, said the sale was "an
inevitable decision to widely cope with difficulties".
"Asiana was everything to me, as it is to you all," he said.
($1 = 1,136.1600 won)
(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Additional reporting by Heekyong
Yang and Ju-min Park; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
((hyunjoo.jin@thomsonreuters.com; 82-2-3704-5685; Reuters
Messaging: hyunjoo.jin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))