Korea Development Bank to manage sale of Daewoo Shipbuilding solely
The state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) said Tuesday it plans to manage the sale of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. on its own following its recent decision to drop Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as a co-adviser.
On Sunday, the KDB said it had canceled its decision to pick Goldman Sachs as a manager to sell the world's third-largest shipbuilder, saying that the lender and the world's biggest brokerage failed to reach an agreement on terms of a contract.
The lender said Goldman Sachs has a stake in a Chinese shipbuilder, which could incur conflicts of interest.
The KDB and state-run Korea Asset Management Corp., which hold a combined 50.37 percent of the shipyard, are seeking to sell their stakes in the shipbuilder this year. A preferred bidder will be selected in August, the lender said in late March.
"The lender has decided to lead the sale of Daewoo Shipbuilding, as the KDB thought it would be better to do it alone rather than pick a new adviser," a KDB official said.
"We had sought to reach a deal with Deloitte Anjin LLC, a second candidate, but the firm informed us that it cannot arrange the sale as it has already decided to manage a possible purchase of the shipbuilder with a potential bidder," he added.
The decision came amid some media reports that the sale arrangement of the global investment bank may involve a possible leak of the shipbuilder's technologies as Goldman Sachs has invested in a Chinese shipyard. South Korea is home to seven of the world's top 10 shipyards.
The planned sale of Daewoo Shipbuilding is in line with the government's push to privatize some state-owned lenders including KDB, many of which hold massive stakes in some of the companies bailed out in the wake of the financial meltdown that hit the country in late 1997.
The government plans to sell a 49 percent stake in the KDB by 2010 after putting it and its affiliates under a holding company this year.
Shares of the shipyard closed up 1.56 percent at 45,700 won (US$43.77) on the main bourse.
Daewoo Shipbuilding posted a net profit of 78.4 billion won in the first quarter, up 51 percent from a year earlier.
On Sunday, the KDB said it had canceled its decision to pick Goldman Sachs as a manager to sell the world's third-largest shipbuilder, saying that the lender and the world's biggest brokerage failed to reach an agreement on terms of a contract.
The lender said Goldman Sachs has a stake in a Chinese shipbuilder, which could incur conflicts of interest.
The KDB and state-run Korea Asset Management Corp., which hold a combined 50.37 percent of the shipyard, are seeking to sell their stakes in the shipbuilder this year. A preferred bidder will be selected in August, the lender said in late March.
"The lender has decided to lead the sale of Daewoo Shipbuilding, as the KDB thought it would be better to do it alone rather than pick a new adviser," a KDB official said.
"We had sought to reach a deal with Deloitte Anjin LLC, a second candidate, but the firm informed us that it cannot arrange the sale as it has already decided to manage a possible purchase of the shipbuilder with a potential bidder," he added.
The decision came amid some media reports that the sale arrangement of the global investment bank may involve a possible leak of the shipbuilder's technologies as Goldman Sachs has invested in a Chinese shipyard. South Korea is home to seven of the world's top 10 shipyards.
The planned sale of Daewoo Shipbuilding is in line with the government's push to privatize some state-owned lenders including KDB, many of which hold massive stakes in some of the companies bailed out in the wake of the financial meltdown that hit the country in late 1997.
The government plans to sell a 49 percent stake in the KDB by 2010 after putting it and its affiliates under a holding company this year.
Shares of the shipyard closed up 1.56 percent at 45,700 won (US$43.77) on the main bourse.
Daewoo Shipbuilding posted a net profit of 78.4 billion won in the first quarter, up 51 percent from a year earlier.