Debt reprieve to help Daewoo stay afloat
The world’s largest shipbuilder wins a reprieve from major bondholder National Pension Service and other lenders
Seoul/Singapore — Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, the world’s largest shipbuilder, won a reprieve from major bondholder National Pension Service (NPS) and other lenders, helping avert a payment crisis that had threatened to almost shut the company. The NPS agreed to restructure 1.55-trillion won ($18.7bn) of bonds issued by the company after the shipbuilder, the Korea Development Bank and Export-Import Bank of Korea took steps to ensure repayment of the debts, the pension service said in a statement. Banks agreed to convert 80% of loans to Daewoo into shares and to extend the maturity on the remainder, the Financial Services Commission said. Bondholders including Korea Federation of Small & Medium Business and Korea Post also agreed on the rescheduling plan. Two other meetings of bondholders are expected to approve, analysts said. The reprieve means the vessel maker, unprofitable in each of the past four years, will get more time to make payments on bonds that are due in A...
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