Creditors pick Dongbu for Daewoo

Creditor banks of Daewoo Electronics tapped Dongbu Group as the preferred bidder for the country’s third-largest electronics firm, sources said yesterday, raising hopes that their decade-long search for a buyer will come to an end.

The decision comes a day after media reports said two local groups, Dongbu and Samla Midas, and one foreign firm, Sweden’s Electrolux AB, submitted bids for the deal, which is valued at more than 300 billion won ($265 million).

Dongbu formed a consortium with KTB Private Equity and proposed a bid in the upper 300 billion won range, according to the sources.

In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, Dongbu confirmed that it has decided to take part in the bidding to bank on potential “business synergies” the deal could create with the group’s affiliates.

Daewoo Electronics is 57.4 percent owned by the state-run debt clearer Kamco, followed by Korea Exchange Bank with 6.79 percent and Woori Bank with 5.37 percent.

The bidder selection comes after five rounds of ultimately fruitless talks with potential buyers, including overseas companies and consortia such as Iran’s Entekhab Industrial and Morgan Stanley Private Equity.

Yonhap