South Korea creditors seek bids for stake in Hynix

SEOUL: Creditors of South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor on Tuesday invited bids for a major stake in the world's second-largest computer memory chip maker, with the aim of choosing a preferred bidder in August.

The creditors-turned-shareholders, led by Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), said in a statement they hope to wrap up the sale by year-end. Collectively they hold about 15 percent of Hynix.

They said Hynix could sell new shares along with the creditors' existing shares as part of the process.

KEB is the biggest shareholder with a 3.42 percent stake, followed by Woori Bank with 3.34 percent and state policy lender Korea Finance Corp with 2.58.

The chief of Korea Finance Corp said in late March that creditors are considering issuing new shares, a move which would bolster the chipmaker's financial strength and ease the need for extra investment by a new owner.

The creditors injected $4.6 billion to rescue Hynix by swapping their debt holdings into shares in 2001 and 2002.

It was unclear whether their third attempt in three years to divest from the company would succeed.

A source told Dow Jones Newswires earlier this month that shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries may bid for Hynix but no company has publicly expressed interest so far.

The company's first-quarter net profit slumped 66 percent year-on-year because of falling computer memory chip prices.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011