S. Korea's Coway says to spin off water business

Coway

10/12/2015 09:25

SEOUL, Dec 10 (Reuters) - South Korean manufacturer Coway Co 
Ltd  021240.KS  said on Thursday it plans to spin off it water 
appliance operations to streamline its business in a move it 
said is not related to top shareholder MBK Partners' own plan to 
exit Coway. 
    Coway, which makes and distributes water purifiers as well 
as other appliances, said in a regulatory filing it will 
initially control 100 percent of the new company, to be called 
Coway Entech Co Ltd, but will consider seeking new investors for 
the business. 
    It didn't say how much it expects Coway Entech to be worth.  
    A Coway spokeswoman said the water spinoff was separate from 
the ongoing sale by MBK Partners, a South Korean private equity 
firm, of its stake in the appliance maker.  
    MBK, which owns a 30.9 percent stake in Coway worth 2 
trillion won ($1.7 billion) based on Thursday's closing stock 
price, declined to comment on both its own sale process and the 
Coway Entech spinoff.  
    South Korean conglomerate CJ Group said last week it decided 
not to submit a final offer for MBK's Coway stake after taking 
part in preliminary bidding. CJ did not say why it did not 
submit a final bid, a decision that removed a potential major 
suitor from the sale process.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS6N10902J 
     
($1 = 1,179.4900 won) 
 
 (Reporting by Se Young Lee and Hooyeon Kim; Editing by Kenneth 
Maxwell) 
 ((tony.munroe@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5640; Reuters 
Messaging: tony.munroe.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: SOUTHKOREA COWAY/SPINOFF