[Breaking] Ssangyong Motor's New Owner Candidate... 'Edison Motors Consortium' Selected

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Ki-min Lee and Dae-hyun Kim] Edison Motors Consortium has been selected as the new owner candidate of Ssangyong Motor, which is undergoing corporate rehabilitation procedures.

On the 20th, the Seoul Rehabilitation Court announced that based on the report submitted by Ssangyong Motor to the court that afternoon, it plans to select Edison Motors Consortium as the preferred negotiation partner.

The court initially told reporters, "Today is the day when the (Ssangyong Motor) administrator and others report the results of the ongoing review to the court. There is no decision or approval to be made by the court today regarding this," adding, "Future schedules will proceed according to the debtor's (Ssangyong Motor) review results and intentions."

After requesting supplementary documents twice and completing the review, the court is known to have highly evaluated Edison Motors' expertise in electric vehicle-related business and the already secured investors such as the well-known domestic private equity fund Kang Sung-bu Fund (KCGI) and Keystone Private Equity (PE).

At the main bidding, Edison Motors Consortium offered an acquisition price of about 260 billion KRW, which was more than 200 billion KRW lower than the competing company EL B&T. Recently, to alleviate concerns about their acquisition intent, they raised the acquisition price by about 100 billion KRW.

If Edison Motors acquires Ssangyong Motor, it plans to improve financial soundness by resolving public claims of 700 billion KRW and request loans from the Korea Development Bank using Ssangyong Motor's land, buildings, and facilities as collateral.

Edison Motors plans to maintain Ssangyong Motor's internal combustion engine vehicle production while leveraging its experience in electric bus production to manufacture and sell 10 new electric vehicle models including sedans and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) by next year, 20 models by 2025, and 30 models by 2030.

In the future, Ssangyong Motor and Edison Motors Consortium plan to sign a binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) and then conclude a formal investment contract.