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KOREA Express Co, South Korea's biggest logistics company, will name a group led by Merrill Lynch & Co to sell a controlling stake as it exits six years of court receivership.
The Merrill Lynch group, including the law firm Bae, Kim & Lee LLC and Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers, beat four other competitors, two people familiar with the court's decision told Bloomberg News. An official contract will be signed on Monday, the people said.
Korea Express may become the focus of a bidding war as South Korea's Doosan Group, Kumho-Asiana Group and STX Group have said they would like to buy the company. Leaving court receivership will also allow existing shareholders, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc, to regain their voting rights.
"Korea Express has the strongest network in land logistics here," said Kim Seung Churl, a transportation industry analyst at Hyundai Securities Co in Seoul. "Anyone who buys Korea Express will immediately become the leader in logistics; so competition will be very fierce."
Korea Express, which has a market value of $2 billion, may increase outstanding shares by 50 percent, the Seoul Central District Court said on August 27. The stock will be sold as a block via an auction. The court aims to complete the sale by the end of the first half of 2008.
Edaily, a Korean-language news Website, earlier reported that the Merrill Lynch group would be named to manage the share sale.
Triumph II Investments (Ireland) Ltd, majority owned by Goldman Sachs' GS Financial Services LP unit, is Korea Express's largest shareholder, with a 26-percent stake. STX Pan Ocean Co holds 15 percent, and Kumho Industrial Co owns 14 percent of the logistics firm. State-run Seoul Guarantee Insurance Co and Korea Asset Management Corp have a combined 17 percent, according to the company's filings.
Korea Express has been in court receivership since 2001 after it failed to pay debt that it inherited from its former parent, the Dongah Construction Industrial Co.
Source:Shanghai Daily
qq.com