In good news for struggling Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), it looks like a sister company will be sold to raise much needed cash. Both KB Financial Group and Korea Investment Holdings have revealed they have sent letters of intent to buy a controlling stake in Hyundai Securities. The brokerage is one of South Korea’s largest and the 22.56% is valued at KRW300bn ($250m).
The sale, likely to be completed by end-March, is an important part of the parent Hyundai Group’s rehabilitation plan to ease a liquidity crunch at HMM. An effort to sell Hyundai Securities to a Japanese firm fell through last year.
HMM, saddled with debts in excess of $5bn, has bonds it must pay back in the coming months. HMM has recently sold its dry bulk division and is rumoured to be selling its Busan container terminal holding to Singapore’s PSA International.
