Although Park Sam-koo is said to have arranged sufficient funds to buy back a share in Kumho Tire from its creditors, some still doubt the transaction will go ahead. The Investor, the online business news service run by The Korea Herald, comments that many observers question whether Park will be able to pay the KRW 100 billion (£70.5 million) down payment for the deal.
Park Sam-koo reportedly possesses the funds needed to buy back a controlling stake in Kumho Tire. The chairman of the Kumho Asiana Group has raised almost KRW 1 trillion (£695 million) to acquire the 42.1 per cent share in Kumho Tire currently held by the Korea Development Bank and other creditors. The funds have been borrowed from financial investors and associates.
Final bids to acquire a 42.01 per cent shareholding in Kumho Tire are in, and Credit Cuisse, who has managed the deal, has requested additional time in order to review the bidders’ documents. Pulse, Maeil Business Newspaper’s English-language website, posits that the preferred bidder will be picked between 16 and 18 January, and the terms then sent to Kumho Asiana chairman Park Sam-koo.
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.
Germany’s Continental AG is said to be discussing the potential acquisition of Kumho Tire, and is just one of several tyre makers apparently interested in purchasing the company. News of this development comes at a time when Kumho Asiana Group chairman Park Sam-Koo’s efforts to regain control of Kumho Tire have run into difficulties.
Kumho Tire has held a ceremony to mark the opening of its new factory in the USA. The facility in Macon County, Georgia, enters operation with the capacity to produce up to four million tyres a year, and will later be expanded to a capacity of up to ten million tyres per annum.
Han-Seob Lee has succeeded Chang-Kyu Kim as chief executive officer of Kumho Tire. The 61-year old heads up the Korean tyre maker’s global business with immediate effect.
The Kumho Asiana Group has appointed Kumho Tire vice-present Park Se-chang the group’s chief executive officer. According to a Kumho press release, 40-year old Park, the only son of group chairman Park Sam-koo, will lead Kumho Asiana’s strategic management unit with current CEO Seo Jae-hwan.
The chairman of Kumho Tire’s parent company has been accused of manipulating the price of Kumho Industrial shares ahead of a planned majority shareholding sale. Drawing its information from “the industry”, Business Korea reports that a certain Mr. Kang has sued Kumho Asiana chairman Park Sam Koo and 20 other Kumho executives for professional malpractice, violation of the financial investment laws (including insider trading) market price manipulation and unfair trading, and bid interference.
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