South Korea's Harim preferred buyer of shipper HMM for $4.9 bln - sources

HMM

19/12/2023 24:56

SEOUL, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Harim Holdings  003380.KQ  on
Tuesday said it has been chosen as the preferred bidder to buy
control of South Korea's biggest container shipper HMM
 011200.KS , in what people with knowledge of the matter said
was a 6.4 trillion won ($4.92 billion) deal.
    Harim and HMM creditors Korea Development Bank  KDB.UL  and
Korea Ocean Business will negotiate a final deal by the first
half of 2024 for 58% of the shipper, said the people, declining
to be identified as they were not authorised to discuss terms.
    Harim entered bidding via a consortium led by its bulk
shipping unit Pan Ocean  028670.KS . It said having Pan Ocean
and HMM in the same group will enable them to better navigate
any downturn in the global market by being responsive to
supply-and-demand and price fluctuation.
    Shares in Harim jumped 6.1% after the news in morning trade,
versus a 0.1% decline in the benchmark index  .KS11 .
    
($1 = 1,300.3400 won)

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
 ((joyce.lee@tr.com;))