Kumho-Asiana Offers USD 4.2 Billion for Korea Express

Kumho-Asiana Group, owner of South Korea’s largest builder and second-biggest airline, bid more than 4 trillion won (USD 4.2 billion) for control of Korea Express Co. to add cargo-delivery and warehousing services.

The group offered in the “lower range of 4 trillion won” and is set to be named as the preferred bidder, Oh Min Seok a spokesman judge at Seoul Central District Court, said by phone today. The bidding group includes about 10 companies, not all of which are controlled by Kumho-Asiana, he added.

The bid is at least 70 percent higher than the court’s minimum for South Korea’s biggest logistics company, in receivership since 2001. Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., Kumho-Asiana’s largest affiliate, fell the most in three years in Seoul trading on concern the deal may damp earnings growth.

Kumho-Asiana Group, which also owns Asiana Airlines Inc., received the highest score in an initial evaluation of four bids submitted for the Korea Express stake, the Seoul Central District Court said today. The group may be named as preferred bidder as soon as tomorrow.

Kumho-Asiana Group, controlled by Chairman Park Sam Koo, is South Korea’s seventh-biggest family-run industrial group by assets, with 35 affiliates as of Jan. 2, according to South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission. Along with Samsung Group and LG Group, it is one of the country’s so-called chaebols that grew up after the Korean War.

Kumho-Asiana Group, owner of South Korea’s largest builder and second-biggest airline, bid more than 4 trillion won (USD 4.2 billion) for control of Korea Express Co. to add cargo-delivery and warehousing services.

The group offered in the “lower range of 4 trillion won” and is set to be named as the preferred bidder, Oh Min Seok a spokesman judge at Seoul Central District Court, said by phone today. The bidding group includes about 10 companies, not all of which are controlled by Kumho-Asiana, he added.

The bid is at least 70 percent higher than the court’s minimum for South Korea’s biggest logistics company, in receivership since 2001. Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., Kumho-Asiana’s largest affiliate, fell the most in three years in Seoul trading on concern the deal may damp earnings growth.

Kumho-Asiana Group, which also owns Asiana Airlines Inc., received the highest score in an initial evaluation of four bids submitted for the Korea Express stake, the Seoul Central District Court said today. The group may be named as preferred bidder as soon as tomorrow.

Kumho-Asiana Group, controlled by Chairman Park Sam Koo, is South Korea’s seventh-biggest family-run industrial group by assets, with 35 affiliates as of Jan. 2, according to South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission. Along with Samsung Group and LG Group, it is one of the country’s so-called chaebols that grew up after the Korean War.