Preliminary Tender Fails to Attract Satisfactory Bids
Doosan Group and its creditors including Korea Development Bank (KDB) have decided to break Doosan Solus into three divisions and sell them separately. The move followed the absence of Lotte Chemical, a strong potential buyer, in the recent preliminary tender, which dimmed the prospects of the company’s sale in its entirety.
Doosan Group and Samil Accounting Corp., the lead manager for the sale of Doosan Solus, are negotiating with potential buyers of each of the company’s three core business sectors (copper foils, battery foils and high-tech materials).
Initially, Doosan Group was confident about selling Doosan Solus at a high price, expecting 1.5-plus trillion won as its price. Lotte Chemical was interested in Doosan Solus. But it finally decided not to participate in the preliminary tender held on June 2. Furthermore, some global private equity fund operators also suggested lower-than-expected prices. If the sale of Doosan Solus fails, Doosan Group may be forced to sell other core businesses such as Bobcat and the industrial vehicle business of Doosan Corp. KDB earlier promised to provide 3.6 trillion won in emergency funds on condition that Doosan Group raises 3 trillion won on its own.
Accordingly, Doosan is seeking to persuade small and medium-sized PEF operators who have shown interest in Doosan Solus' business divisions to form a consortium to facilitate their acquisition. In 2018, Korean companies KCC, Wonik, and PEF operator SJL Partners formed a consortium to acquire Momentive, a silicon company in the U.S.