Hyundai Motor cuts KAI stake by half in block trades

Hyundai Motor Co., Korea’s No. 1 carmaker, raised 342 billion won ($289.9 million) by selling 5 percent of Korea Aerospace Industries in after-hours block trades on Wednesday, the company said in a filing Thursday.

The sale of 4.87 million shares at 70,200 won apiece takes Hyundai Motor’s stake in Korea’s sole aircraft maker to 5 percent from the previous 10 percent. The auto firm is now KAI’s fourth-largest shareholder, after the state-run Korea Development Bank, which as of March 16 held a 26.8 percent stake, the National Pension Fund with 8.3 percent and Hanwha Techwin with 6 percent. 

The block-sale price represents a 5.1 percent discount to KAI’s closing price of 74,000 won on Wednesday.

On the bourse at 10:33 a.m. on Thursday, KAI shares traded 3.11 percent lower at 71,700 won, against the benchmark KOSPI’s 1.11 percent rise.

The after-hours block trade follows similar transactions by two other KAI shareholders in January. In separate block sales, Hanwha Techwin and DIP Holdings unloaded their 5 percent and 4.99 percent stakes, respectively.

The series of stake sales may complicate KDB’s plan to divest its equity stake in the firm, market watchers said. Under the government’s privatization plan, KDB has until the end of 2018 to find a buyer for its controlling stake in KAI. 


By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)