KDB to Pick Adviser for Daewoo Sale

The main creditor of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering is planning to resume the sale of the world's third-largest shipyard in 2010 after selecting an adviser for the sale within this year, its chief said Thursday.

"We want to sell a controlling stake in the shipbuilder as soon as possible," Korea Development Bank CEO Min Euoo-sung told reporters. "Detailed issues will be discussed later by creditors."

The state-run KDB and the Korea Asset Management Corp. hold a combined 50.4 percent stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding after swapping debt for equity in December 2000, rescuing the company from near collapse.

KDB terminated an estimated over 6 trillion won deal with Hanwha Group for Daewoo Shipbuilding in January this year and said it plans to re-invite bids for the sale of the shipbuilder.

Hanwha Group was chosen as the preferred bidder to buy the shipyard but the deal fell through as the group sought to revise the terms of its offer amid the U.S.-sparked global economic downturn.