Kumho to sell cornerstone stake in Asiana Airlines

Embattled South Korean conglomerate Kumho Industrial will sell its 33% stake in Asiana Airlines as it seeks to shore up its finances. The sale decision was made by Kumho’s board Monday, a stock exchange disclosure states, but no timeline for the sale nor the likely price have been set. Kumho Industrial is the holding company of the Kumho Asiana Group, which has been seeking around US$441m in emergency loans from Korea Development Bank, its largest creditor. The sale of the Asiana stake is part of a wider self-rescue plan for the heavily indebted conglomerate. A meeting of creditors is expected to be called soon to approve the plan. It is not clear which parties could acquire the cornerstone stake in Asiana, but several reports point to other Korean industrial conglomerates as likely bidders. <br/>