Daewoo Electronics Corp, South Korea's third-largest electronics maker, will look to sell its non-core businesses including its TV manufacturing unit in order to focus more on appliances, its chief executive officer has said.
"We will boost our competitiveness in the appliance business and sell off non-core businesses," Lee Sung told reporters yesterday.
A number of investors are showing interest in the potential sale, particularly in the air conditioner and electronic parts units, Lee said without naming specific buyers.
"We plan to pick a preferred bidder next week, and complete the sale of non-core assets by the end of next month," Lee said. In 2008, Daewoo Electronics posted 3.2 billion won ($2.4 million) in operating income on 1.9 trillion won in sales. Its refrigerator and washing machine-manufacturing units generated 50 billion won in operating income on combined sales of 1.5 trillion won. Its TV business, in contrast, saw more than 40 billion won in operating losses last year.
Creditors of Daewoo Electronics have been seeking to sell the company since late 2005, but earlier deals ruptured due to price disagreements.