S.Korea's SsangYong Motor in receivership as owner Mahindra fails to find buyer

KG Mobility

15/04/2021 03:56

SEOUL, April 15 (Reuters) - South Korea's SsangYong Motor
 003620.KS  has been put under court receivership, the Seoul
Bankruptcy Court said on Thursday, in an attempt to rehabilitate
the car maker after majority owner Mahindra and Mahindra
 MAHM.NS  failed to secure a buyer. 
    SsangYong applied to the court in December for receivership
after it defaulted on a loan repayment.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2J1232
    The South Korean automaker is expected to submit a
rehabilitation plan to the court by June. 
    "We plan to promote the early termination of the
rehabilitation process through the completion of the M&A, such
as selecting an advisor in the shortest possible time in
consultation with the Seoul Bankruptcy Court," SsangYong said in
a statement. 
    SsangYong is burdened with high debt, and the company has
said its 2020 vehicle sales fell more than 20% from a year
earlier to 107,416 vehicles. 
    Its 2020 operating loss widened to 449 billion won ($401.76
million) from 282 billion won a year earlier. Revenue fell 19%
to 3 trillion won.
    Indian automaker Mahindra, which owned 75% of SsangYong as
of the end of last year, has been looking for a buyer for all or
most of its stake, which it bought when the South Korean
automaker was near-bankruptcy in 2010, but has struggled to turn
it around.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2DO0OT
($1 = 1,117.5700 won)

 (Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Muralikumar
Anantharaman)
 ((Heekyong.Yang@thomsonreuters.com;))