SK Group may join consortium for Daewoo shipbuilding bid

South Korea’s SK Group is considering joining a POSCO-led consortium to acquire a controlling stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, an SK official said on June 27. “There seem to be contacts between working-level officials (from the two parties), but nothing has been decided,” said the SK official. In May, POSCO said it might form a consortium with other Korean companies to bid for a 50.4% stake in the world’s fourth-largest shipbuilder by orders held by Korea Development Bank ( KDB) and Korea Asset Management Corp. (Kamco). State-run KDB owns a 31.3% stake in the shipbuilder, while state-owned Kamco holds 19.1%. KDB began the process of selling the stake in March. KDBs M&A team is carrying out due diligence on Daewoo Shipbuilding and plans to select a preferred bidder for the stake. POSCO, Hanwha Group, STX Group, and GS Holdings Corp. have officially announced that they will enter the fray to buy the shipbuilder, while companies such as Doosan Group and National Pension Service also have expressed an interest. (June 27, 2008)