HMM disposes of domestic terminals to HPH

Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) finally sold off terminals in Korea to foreign port operating company, Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH).
HMM announced on January 16 that it made a final contract with Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) to sell the Kamman terminal and the Hyundai Busan Container Terminal (HBCT) in Pusan and Kwangyang Port for $215 million (KRW 282.5 billion).
HMM estimated the sale would make it possible to get back to normal management operations earlier than it originally scheduled, along with the sale of its headquarters building and shares in Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).
An officer at HMM explained that though HMM sold its domestic terminals, it wouldn’t cause any problems for stevedoring because HMM chartered them back again.
Thus, selling the building, shares of HHI, and its domestic terminals gave HMM sufficient liquidity, KRW 520 billion, just as creditor groups began to push.
HMM said, “Selling terminals symbolizes the end of self-rescue plans. This allowed us to recover official credits from the market and to normalize our company earlier than originally planned.”
HMM also revealed that it will issue Asset Backed Securities (ABS) of KRW 500 billion this January based on LNG sales results. This could solve all of its debt within the year. HMM was supposed to redeem KRW 380 billion of debenture this month and also an extra KRW 100 billion of unpaid debts and interest.
In the mean while, HMM is considering issuing additional ABSs of around KRW 500 billion after obtaining a long-term car carrier contract. HMM should redeem KRW 2.7 trillion of debts in general debts, among which KRW 1 trillion must be refunded within this year.