Demo against Sales
Forty one Kumho Tire executives, including CEO Lee Han-seob, issued a statement on July 13, saying, “We are absolutely opposed to selling the company to Doublestar, which is unqualified. We strongly ask our creditors to help Kumho Tire remain part of Kumho Asiana Group.” They also said that they cannot accept the rating D of the management evaluation of Kumho Tire which the creditors notified of and they will quit en masse if the creditors sell Korea's second-largest tiremaker to Double Star Tires.
Kumho Tire employees also issued a separate statement asking the creditors to stop the sale process. About 750 researchers and employees at the headquarters held separate rallies at the company’s R&D center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and headquarters in Seoul on July 13. They said, “Stop the sales process which is opposed to internal employees and regional sentiments and ensure Kumho Tire an opportunity to recover the competitiveness itself.”
Due to the all-out fight of Kumho Tire executives and employees, the company’s sale process is heading towards more uncertain times. Kumho Industrial has decided to hold a board meeting on the 18th to review the creditors’ final offer over the use of Kumho Tire’s trademark rights.
When Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo doesn’t agree on the new terms, the creditors will hold a shareholders’ meeting and deprive Park of his right of management and first refusal for Kumho Tire.