SEOUL -- Yet another attemped sale of
Daewoo Electronics has fallen through, and the tight credit market may discourage other potential buyers from the company, which is valued at around $500 million. The breakdown may mean restructuring for the company.
Woori Bank, which with its partners owns 97.6% of Daewoo, said talks with private-equity firm
Ripplewood
Holdings "have broken down." The bank, Daewoo's largest creditor, expressed pessimism another buyer would come forward soon.
"Given the tight global credit situation, it'll be very hard to find a
new buyer any time soon," Woori Bank
spokesman Kim Ki Lin was quoted as saying. "Creditors will soon meet to discuss what to do with the
electronics maker, but it looks like we'll look for ways to normalize
Daewoo through restructuring."
It marks the third time a potential sale of the embattled electronics OEM has fallen through. In 2008 creditors shot down a 700 billion won ($530 million) offer from
Videocon Industries as too low. Last fall, a
Morgan Stanley offshoot withdrew a bid after due diligence.
Daewoo is Korea's third largest electronics firm, after
Samsung Electronics and
LG Electronics.