Samsung, Hyundai Motor bid for KEPCO land

Samsung Electronics Co. and Hyundai Motor Group submitted bids Wednesday to buy the site of the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO)'s Seoul headquarters, a closely-watched real estate deal estimated at trillions of won, inside sources said.

The property, the last sizable piece of land available for development in Seoul's affluent Gangnam district, is estimated to be worth over 3.33 trillion won ($3.22 billion), but the bidding prices were not immediately known.  KEPCO will announce the winner Thursday morning.

Hyundai Motor Group said its board of directors approved the land purchase through a consortium with two of its affiliates -- Kia Motors and Hyundai Mobis.

The nation's largest automaker had expressed strong interest in buying the KEPCO site to build a "global business center" that will incorporate its auto affiliates as well as a hotel, a convention center and an auto theme park. 

Samsung Group has also been eyeing the 79,345 square meter site, though it has not officially unveiled its development plan, citing business confidentiality. 

Its construction unit Samsung C&T formed a consortium with steelmaker POSCO in 2009 to develop the area, while another affiliate, Samsung Life Insurance, bought an adjacent property in 2011.

The group's tech affiliate Samsung Electronics confirmed that it submitted the bid, without elaborating whether it will pursue the deal alone or through an inter-affiliate consortium like Hyundai.

The site was put up for sale as KEPCO is scheduled to move its headquarters to Naju, 350 kilometers south of Seoul, in November as part of the government's plan to relocate state-run companies for balanced national development. 

The land sale is expected to help the state-run company's efforts to cut its debt of 107.4 trillion won ($105.1 billion) by 14.7 trillion won by 2016. 

The development of the land also ties in with government plans to transform the area into an international business center to fuel the country's convention industry. (Yonhap)