HDC Hyundai Cites Uncompleted Approval in Delaying Asiana Airlines Acquisition

HDC Hyundai Development announced on April 29 that it would delay the acquisition of Asiana Airlines shares.

It was scheduled to acquire the shares on April 30.

The company did not give a specific acquisition date, only saying that it is delaying the date to "10 days after the prerequisites for transaction completion have been met" or "the day chosen by the two parties as the transaction completion day."

The stock purchase agreement between HDC Hyundai Development and Kumho Industries needs to be approved by the Korean Fair Trade Commission and six foreign countries, including Russia, China, and the United States.

Russia has yet to give its approval.

While HDC based the change in takeover date to the uncompleted approval procedure, market observers believe that HDC Hyundai Development wants creditors to change the terms of the acquisition.

Among its demands is the deadline extension for Asiana Airlines' repayment of loans, lower interest rates, and conversion of loans into equities.

Under the government's restructuring plan, Asiana Airlines should pursue normalization by finding new investors. Support will be later provided after massive restructuring.

HDC Hyundai initially planned to participate in Asiana's 1.47 trillion won capital increase to repay the 1.17 trillion won loans from KDB and Export-Import Bank of Korea. It also plans to finalize the acquisition process by this month by issuing additional bonds and obtaining acquisition financing.

However, not only have Asiana Airlines' borrowings risen, but its debt ratio also increased since the end of 2019.

Asiana Airlines is expected to lose over one trillion won this year, mainly attributed to its massive slump in the first quarter.

"Deteriorating situations in the airline industry is making it impossible to find another company to take over Asiana Airline," said an aviation industry insider.