Pressure likely to increase on KAL to sell businesses Attention focused on Credit Suisse's role
Translated by Ryu Ho-joung 공개 2020-06-10 08:00:25
이 기사는 2020년 06월 10일 08:00 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.
Hanjin Group’s Korean Air Lines (KAL) is under growing pressure from creditors to sell its businesses to solve its cash flow issues.Samjong KPMG, which is acting as accounting adviser to KAL, will soon complete valuation of the company’s individual businesses to report the results to both KAL management and creditors led by the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), sources said on June 8. Among the business units speculated as potential candidates for sale are in-flight meal services, mileage services and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) services.
Separately, Credit Suisse is also estimating value of KAL’s assets and providing consulting to the company on the possible sale of them. Attracting attention is the investment bank’s role in the airline’s restructuring efforts. The official title of the contract between the two parties does not include the word sale but “consulting,” which is at odds with a typical practice.
This is seemingly because of the difference between Hanjin Group and KDB, the airline’s largest creditor, in their approach to selling the airline’s assets, industry watchers said.
Hanjin Group’s senior management, including Chairman Cho Won-tae, is trying to sell KAL’s assets – if they have to be sold – as quietly as possible over concerns about a negative impact on its brand image. Indeed, KAL is said to have not included options of selling its business units in a self-rescue plan submitted earlier to creditors. On the other hand, KDB is seeing that selling some of the airline’s businesses is necessary to secure sufficient liquidity.
KAL can externally rule out the possibility of selling its businesses because Credit Suisse is not officially acting as deal manager. But KDB may put pressure on the company through Credit Suisse, of which KDB is one of the key clients.
“KDB will likely press KAL to sell its businesses to potential buyers identified by Credit Suisse,” an industry insider said. “The pace of a possible sale would depend on how much more power creditors will have as KAL is taking a cautious approach to its asset sale.”
Chances are high that creditors will have a stronger voice in the future because the restructuring plan proposed by KAL has become less practicable. Creditors are demanding that KAL raise at least 2 trillion won ($1.66 billion) of capital by end-2021. Interest from investors in KAL’s businesses is also high, which raises the possibility of an actual sale.
“KAL initially planned to sell its land in the central Seoul area and its stake in Wangsan Marina to avoid selling its operating businesses,” the industry insider added. “But now that it has become difficult to execute the original plan, pressure on KAL to sell its businesses is likely to mount in the future.”
(Reporting by Ik-hwan Choi)
< 저작권자 ⓒ 자본시장 미디어 'thebell', 무단 전재, 재배포 및 AI학습 이용 금지 >
관련기사
best clicks
최신뉴스 in 전체기사
-
- 스튜디오산타클로스ENT, 주주권익 보호 '구슬땀'
- 이에이트, AI 시뮬레이션·디지털 트윈 기술 선보여
- MBK, '몸값 2조' 지오영 인수 SPA 체결 임박
- [2024 더벨 글로벌 투자 로드쇼-베트남]한인이 설립한 RCE, 세계 첫 ‘중장비 온라인 중고거래’
- 회계법인 해솔, 부동산 타당성 자문 업무협약
- [2024 더벨 글로벌 투자 로드쇼-베트남]베트남의 지오영 '바이메드'·전기오토바이 '셀렉스' 눈길
- 지아이에스, 코스닥 상장 위한 예비심사신청서 제출
- [꿈틀대는 토큰증권 시장]'업계 표준' 루센트블록, '두자릿수' 레코드 조준
- [Company & IB]조달 '막바지' 롯데그룹, 롯데케미칼에 쏠리는 눈
- '910억 CB 발행' 아스트, 경영 정상화 속도 낸다