Korean Air eyeing stake in Asiana Airlines: sources

Korean Air Lines Co. owner Hanjin Group has reportedly been negotiating with Korea Development Bank (KDB) for the past two months to buy the debt-ridden carrier, Asiana Airlines Inc.

KDB is the main creditor of Asiana.

One of the plans is for KDB to inject funds to Hanjin KAL Corp., the holding company of Hanjin Group, with the group using that money to acquire a 30.77 percent stake in Asiana.

It was KDB who first came up with the idea to sell Asiana to Hanjin Group.

A KDB official said that nothing has so far been decided.

If the deal pushes through, KDB will become the third-largest shareholder in Hanjin KAL and allow Hanjin Group to finance the acquisition deal.

In September, KDB and co-Asiana creditor Export-Import Bank of Korea decided to end negotiations for selling the air carrier to HDC Hyundai Development Co.

The HDC-led consortium initially signed to acquire Asiana, shares of Asiana that were to be issued, and six Asiana affiliates for 2.5 trillion won.

But HDC later demanded a renegotiation and another round of due diligence on Asiana to ascertain the pandemic's impact on the industry, which was rejected by creditors.