Korean Air to sell Incheon yacht marina

Korean Air Lines is inching closer to selling its yacht marina operation in Incheon to a new Korean buyer for roughly 130b won ($117m). The investor group of Consus Asset Management and Mirae Asset Daewoo said on Nov. 30 it has signed a memorandum of understanding as a preferred bidder to buy 100% stake in Wangsan Leisure Development, operator of Wangsan Marina, which is wholly controlled by the nation’s No. 1 flag carrier. Wangsan Marina was built in 2016. Part of the facility was used for a sailing competition in the Incheon 2014 Asian Games while construction was underway. Wangsan Leisure Development has been fully operating the facility since 2017 under a 30-year contract. The news comes amid a series of asset divestments of Korean Air in a bid to fight the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the global aviation industry. Korean Air was one of the Korean companies to have received funding from government-run lenders to stave off a liquidity crisis due to the virus impact. The air carrier borrowed 1.2t won from two state-run lenders, the Korea Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea, in exchange for a self-rescue plan to draw up at least 2t won in cash. Plans to repay state borrowing have begun. Earlier in August, Korean Air inked a deal worth 990b won to sell its inflight meal catering and duty-free operation to local private equity firm Hahn & Co. The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2020. <br/>