Creditors of Ssangyong Motor Co have resumed talks with China’s Blue Star and three other foreign investors to sell the car maker, aiming to name a preferred bidder this month, a creditor official reportedly said on Thursday.
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Reuters noted that an initial deal to sell the debt-ridden carmaker to chemicals firm Blue Star fell apart in March because of pricing differences.
“We are in talks with two Chinese firms, a US fund and a Hong Kong-based fund,” a spokesman for Chohung Bank, Ssangyong’s main creditor, told the news agency, identifying the Chinese firms as Blue Star and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) but saying he did not know the identity of the two other overseas bidders.
Reuters said creditors had picked Blue Star, which runs a chain of more than 400 noodle restaurants and has a car repair arm, ahead of fellow state-run firm SAIC, which operates several car-making ventures in China with General Motors.
Local media reportedly said creditors wanted to speed up the sale to finance investment that it could use to upgrade its models.
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By GlobalDataReuters noted that Ssangyong Motor chief executive Soh Jin-kwan said in May that the maker of sports utility vehicles needed a partner to boost its chances of survival in an increasingly competitive motor industry.
Previously, the report said, local media had reported Blue Star was due to pay between $US600 million and $700 million for 50% of Ssangyong Motor, a stake that had been valued at about $500 million as of late March, though that value has fallen to $363 million, with share prices falling due to soaring oil prices.
