Creditors eye concluding sale of Hyundai Corp. by mid-Dec.

Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), a main creditor of Hyundai Corp., said Monday it will seek to complete the sale of the South Korean trading company by no later than mid-December.
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's biggest shipbuilder, was picked as the preferred bidder for Hyundai Corp. in late September.
"Creditors will decide on whether to approve the sale plan by Friday and if approved, we plan to cap the clinching of the final deal (with Hyundai Heavy Industries) no later than mid-December," KEB said in a statement.
Since last year, the creditors of Hyundai Corp. have been seeking to sell the trading company, which was bailed out in 2004 through a debt-for-equity swap.
Market watchers estimated that the purchase price to buy 50 percent plus one share of Hyundai Corp. may be set at 235 billion won (US$202.4 million).
Shares of the trading company closed at 19,400 won on the main bourse, down 0.77 percent from Friday's close. Shares of Hyundai Heavy Industries ended at 150,500 won, up 1.35 percent from the previous session.
Hyundai Corp. is participating in oil and gas projects in countries such as Vietnam and Qatar, and has a Chinese shipbuilding venture.
Hyundai Heavy, Hyundai Motor Co. and Hyundai Corp. were part of Hyundai Group before the conglomerate started breaking up in 1999.