Samsung Card to sell its 19.9 percent stake in Samsung Renault

Samsung Card said Thursday it is selling its 19.9 percent stake in Renault Samsung Motors.

Samsung Card said it recently made the decision and selected Samsung Securities as the lead manager of the stake sale.

The card issuer purchased the stake for 87.6 billion won ($74.8 million) in April 2000 in line with an agreement between Samsung Group and French automaker Renault S.A. on the sale of Samsung's car unit.

In a semiannual report, Samsung Card estimated the value of its interest in the Korean unit of Renault at 249.2 billion won.

A Samsung Card official said it is still early to talk about potential buyers as the lead manager has just started to search for candidates.

The planned stake sale comes as Samsung Electronics and Samsung C&T decided not to extend a deal with Renault on the use of "the Samsung brand," which ends in August. Both sides instead agreed to delay the contract by two more years.

Renault holds a controlling 81 percent stake in Renault Samsung.

Yonhap