The long planned privatisation plans for South Korea’s flagship carrier lie in ruin today. Harim Group, whose bid with a local private equity firm had been the one selected by state banks, announced in a stock market release that it was pulling out of the deal to take HMM private.
“Negotiations were conducted on the main contents of the agreement between bondholders , but no agreement was reached,” Harim stated. The group, best known as a poultry producer, also has a shipping presence already, having taken over Pan Ocean, one of the nation’s largest bulk owners, a few years ago.
“No private company can easily accept a deal that only makes it the major shareholder without guaranteeing actual management rights,” Harim noted.
Korea Development Bank (KDB), one of the two state creditors, stated: “We were not able to reach an agreement over different views on some details.”
HMM was placed under state control in 2016 at a period of severe financial distress for many Korean shipping firms, which saw its local rival, Hanjin Shipping, liquidated a few months later.