Hanjin Sells Vietnamese Terminal
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Thursday, July 14, 2016
South Korea's largest shipping line Hanjin Shipping has sold its entire 21.3% stake in Tan Cang Cai Mep International Terminal (TCIT) in Vietnam to its affiliate in order to secure liquidity.
The financially-troubled shipping line will raise about $33m from the sale.
The move came after the government and creditors, led by state-run Korea Development Bank, pushed Cho Yang-ho, the chairman of Hanjin Group, to pour more cash to the ailing shipping arm of the company.
TCIT is a joint venture company of Saigon Newport Corporation with Hanjin, Mitsui OSK Lines and Wan Hai as partners.
Cai Mep in the Mekong Delta is a huge complex of terminals built in the past 12 years. Almost all the terminals in the area have failed to make money.
The shipping firm, which is currently under creditor-led restructuring, has been in talks with shipowners on charter rate cuts. Hanjin’s first round of talks with 22 shipowners failed to receive any positive response.
Hanjin is mulling ways to extend the deadline to meet all obligations to receive debt relief from creditors by another month, according to multiple sources from the financial industry and Hanjin Shipping.