Creditor banks of Daewoo Motor Co. on Monday opened a new auction for the bankrupt South Korean car firm following Ford Motor Co.'s withdrawal from a $ 6.9-billion takeover deal. The banks sought fresh bids from General Motors Corp. And Daimler Chrysler, which had taken part in an earlier auction with Ford.
The decision came at talks between the chiefs of five major creditors of the auto company and officials from Daewoo's restructuring committee on how to resurrect the auction after Ford's sudden pull-out last Friday. Ford had been named the winning bidder for Daewoo in June, beating Daimler Chrysler with South Korea's top auto-maker Hyundai Motor Co. And a joint bid by General Motors (GM) and Fiat of Italy.
But Ford dropped its $ 6.9-billion bid last week following three months studying the troubled company's finances.
The new auction is a two-way race between General Motors and the Daimler Chrysler-Hyundai consortium, which were asked to send their proposals by September 28. GM and the Hyundai-Daimler Chrysler consortium are requried to send their bids within 10 days, Korea Development Bank Chief Uhm Rak-Yong told a news conference. The creditors hope to pick the winning bidder next month, he said, adding Daewoo Motor would get fresh finance if needed. The Korean auto company has been kept alive with special loans since its collapse in August last year.


Bureau Report