KDB stalls release of bidder for Daewoo Engineering

The state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) said Friday it has delayed a meeting to announce a preferred bidder in the sale of a controlling stake in Daewoo Engineering & Construction.

A week after Hoban Construction, a mid-sized builder, made a solo bid for the stake, KDB had planned to hold the meeting later Friday to pick a preferred bidder.

It remains unclear why the meeting was delayed or when the meeting will be held.

KDB officials declined to comment, but some analysts said the state-run bank, which plans to sell a 50.75-percent stake in Daewoo Engineering, might have delayed the meeting to allow for more negotiations with Hoban Construction.

KDB, a key creditor of Kumho Asiana Group, purchased the stake in Daewoo Engineering in 2010 to help the debt-ridden conglomerate restructure its finances.

Kumho Asiana’s two subsidiaries - Kumho Tire and Kumho Industrial - have been under a debt restructuring program since early 2010 due to a severe cash crunch sparked by the group’s purchase of Daewoo Engineering in 2006.

YONHAP