MBK named preferred bidder for Doosan Infracore unit

Doosan Infracore said in a regulatory filing that the agreement with SCPE - which was named preferred bidder in December - had lapsed and MBK now has exclusive negotiating rights. Doosan Group has struggled due to a slowdown in the construction sector and wants to sell a 51% stake in the machine tools business in order to reduce Doosan Infracore's debt load.

The company said in October that it planned to cut its debt by more than KRW1 trillion ($828 million) in 2015 through three full or partial divestments, including the machine tools division. This would have taken the debt-to-equity ratio from 280% in the first half of 2015 to below 200% at year end.

Doosan Infracore, which is also active in construction equipment and engine manufacturing, generated KRW7.69 trillion in sales in 2014, down from KRW7.73 trillion the previous year, although it did manage to swing from a net loss of KRW100.9 billion to a profit of KRW23.9 billion.

The machine tools division generated revenue of KRW1.16 trillion in 2014, down marginally on 2013. Operating profit reached KRW143.1 billion, up from KRW115.4 billion.

MBK is currently investing its third North Asia-focused buyout fund, which closed at the hard cap of $2.7 billion in October 2013.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Industrials
• Buyouts
• MBK Partners
• buyout
• South Korea
• manufacturing