POSCO Makes Solo Bid for Daewoo Shipbuilding

POSCO, the world's fourth-largest steel maker, said Tuesday it has made a solo bid for a controlling stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, according to Yonhap News.

POSCO had previously formed a consortium with GS Group, an energy and retail conglomerate, in an effort to gain control of the world's No. 3 shipyard, but GS dropped out Monday, hours after the two sides submitted their final bid.

In a regulatory filing released early Tuesday, GS Holdings, the holding company of GS, said it decided to pull out of the consortium with POSCO because of a "difference" over conditions for the proposed acquisition.

With GS dropping its joint bid, POSCO, Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's largest shipbuilder, and Hanwha Group, an insurance and chemicals conglomerate, are competing to buy a 50.4 percent stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding.

Some analysts say the Daewoo Shipbuilding stake may fetch as low as $4 billion, far below an earlier estimate of $7 billion made when potential bidders were invited to submit their preliminary bids in late August.