​SsangYong Motor Sales ‘New Edition’ has been laid… From Ssangbull to SM Group, candidates for acquisition

While SsangYong Motors announced its breakup with Edison Motors, SsangBall Group announced that it would take over Ssangyong Motors, and the game is heating up. Although there is no official mention yet, the market is also mentioning the SM (Sam Riders) group, which has jumped into the takeover battle in the past, as a candidate.

SsangBall Group announced on the 1st that it is reviewing the merger and acquisition of Ssangyong Motor, centering on Gwanglim, the group’s special vehicle manufacturer. It is making concrete moves with the intention of the acquisition being communicated to the sales manager. In addition, it is known that a task force (TF) team for the acquisition of Ssangyong Motor will be formed to discuss details for submitting a letter of intent (LOI) and forming a consortium. As early as next week, it plans to submit the LOI through EY Hanyeong, the sales lead.

SsangBall Group suffered a hardship in the acquisition of Eastar Jet last year, but it is not breaking its will to discover new businesses. If the acquisition of Ssangyong Motor succeeds, the link with its affiliate Kwanglim is expected to stand out. Kwanglim’s main business is special-purpose vehicles that disassemble and reassemble finished vehicles. It mainly purchases truck-type commercial vehicles and makes special vehicles for construction equipment. Although Ssangyong Motor is not currently manufacturing commercial vehicles, it has experience in producing commercial vehicles in the past.

In addition, Nanos, a subsidiary of Kwanglim, produces optical filters for camera modules and hall sensors for motors, so it can be connected to sensors for autonomous vehicles. Ssangyong Motor is also involved in the autonomous driving solution business.

The market believes that SsangBall Group will need at least 500 billion won in capital to be able to acquire Ssangyong Motor. The Edison Motors consortium, previously selected as the preferred bidder for Ssangyong Motor, spent 304.8 billion won as the acquisition fund, and said that most of the acquisition money would be used to pay off rehabilitation security rights (232 billion won) and tax receivables (55.8 billion won). The 548 billion won of rehabilitation bonds of commercial creditors announced that they would pay only 1.75%, which caused strong opposition from creditors. Commerce creditors demand at least half of the repayment rate, and it is calculated that Ssangbangbang Group needs at least 250 billion won in addition to the acquisition funds to reflect this.

It is also attracting attention as to whether SM Group, which has an edge over Ssangboll Group in terms of provision of live ammunition, will declare its re-entry into the war. If SM Group jumps into the acquisition of Ssangyong Motor again, it is predicted that business development will take place through its affiliate Namseon Aluminum. Namsun Aluminum mainly produces aluminum chassis products and automobile bumpers.

Meanwhile, the deadline for approval of Ssangyong Motor’s rehabilitation plan is October 15, six months later. Again, if the sale is not successful within the deadline, the market believes that the rehabilitation court is highly likely to focus on the liquidation of Ssangyong Motor. Earlier, Ssangyong Motor took about 8 months to sign the contract with Edison Motors, which started in July last year. Considering such a time period, it is necessary to find a new acquirer as soon as possible and negotiate with them.