The Korea Development Bank (KDB) has made its first recovery of public funds from HMM Co. following the South Korean ocean carrier’s completion of a 2.14 trillion won share buyback.
The divestment, amounting to 918.7 billion won ($664 million), comes before the state-run bank puts HMM back on the market after the the collapse of a 6.3-trillion-won deal to sell a majority stake in the country’s largest shipping company in 2024.
HMM has repurchased 81.8 million shares at 26,200 won each through a tender off, according to its regulatory filing on Wednesday. It will retire the shares on Sept. 24.
The Korea Ocean Business Corporation (KOBC), HMM’s second largest shareholder after KDB, also recouped 909.7 billion won ($658 million) through the shipping company’s recent buyback.
KDB’s ownership in HMM decreased to 32.6% from 36.0%, while KOBC’s shareholding fell to 32.28% from 35.7%.
Meanwhile, POSCO Group, South Korea’s largest steel and energy raw materials producer, is looking to buy KDB’s shares in HMM to secure a control of the ocean carrier, according to investment banking sources.
KDB aims to restart the sale of HMM as early as this year, but it could be delayed with the post of its CEO remaining empty.
By Jong-Kwan Park
pjk@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.
