STX Offshore & Shipbuilding to now be known as K Shipbuilding

Jang Yoon-keun, K Shipbuilding CEO, second from right, during a signboard-hanging ceremony in Jinhae, South Gyeongsang, on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

STX Offshore & Shipbuilding has been rebranded as K Shipbuilding under a new ownership after its creditors terminated the creditor management of the midsized shipyard on Tuesday.

Creditors, including the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), completed the sale of the shipbuilder to a consortium consisting of United Asset Management Company (Uamco) and a local private equity fund KH Investment (KHI) for 250 billion won ($220 million).

They each own 47.5 percent of the company.

KHI will be managing K Shipbuilding.

The shipbuilding company was once the fourth largest shipyard globally in terms of contracts obtained as of the early 2000s, but it started to suffer financially after the financial crisis in 2008.

It entered into a creditor-led workout program in 2013, got delisted in 2014 on capital impairment, and went through court receivership in 2016 and 2017.

K Shipbuilding largely builds middle-range product carriers and mid-sized LNG carriers.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr[