Park Sam-koo, potential suitors ready for Kumho Tire bidding

A final round of bids for the 42.01 per cent controlling stake in Kumho Tire will be held on 12 January, and according to the Korea Development Bank and other creditors, a shortlist of five preferred bidders are in the running to acquire this share should chairman Park Sam-koo decline a prior offer to match the highest bid and purchase the 42.01 per cent stake himself. The five contenders are Apollo Tyres, Shanghai Aerospace Industry Corp. (SAIC), Jiangsu GPRO Group, Shandong Linglong Tire and Doublestar Tyre.

SAIC reportedly submitted the highest offer in the initial round of bidding last November; at the time, it was suggested that the bidding for Kumho Tire could reach as high as KRW 1 trillion (£676.1 million).

Regarding Park’s intentions, The Korea Times quotes a Kumho Asiana Group official as saying: “Concerning the sale of Kumho Tire, our stance has always been that chairman Park will take concrete action to buy back the tyre unit when the creditors sell their stake. But nothing has been decided yet as to how he would reacquire the stake.”