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(LEAD) STX Group says not to bid for Daewoo Shipbuilding
SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's STX Group said Monday that it will not bid for a stake in Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., the country's No. 4 builder now up for sale.
Kumho Asiana Group, the parent of Daewoo Engineering, is seeking to sell the builder after the group experienced a liquidity crisis in the wake of the global economic downturn in late 2008.
"We reviewed the takeover, and decided not to bid for Daewoo Engineering," STX Corp. said in a regulatory filing.
While the group said last week that it may join in bidding, a company official said the group has decided to focus on its mainstream shipbuilding and shipping businesses.
The group has STX Offshore and Shipbuilding Co., the country's No. 5 shipyard, and STX Pan Ocean Co., South Korea's No. 1 bulk carrier, under its wing.
TR America Consortium, meanwhile, is pursuing the purchase of Daewoo Engineering. Representatives of the U.S.-based company, which participated in an earlier auction to buy a controlling stake in the builder, are reportedly planning to visit Seoul this month to negotiate the takeover.
The sale of Daewoo Engineering was delayed after Jabez Partners and TR America, the two preferred bidders, failed to show a sufficient commitment to pushing the deal through last year.
After the sale failed, the state-run Korea Development Bank, the biggest creditor of Kumho Asiana, said a private equity fund led by the lender plans to buy 50 percent plus one share in Daewoo Engineering.
KDB plans to complete the acquisition of Daewoo Engineering by June.
Daewoo Engineering was previously part of Daewoo Group, which collapsed during the 1997-1998 financial crisis.
sam@yna.co.kr
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