China’s privately-held Qingdao Doublestar will invest W646 billion $597 million for a controlling stake in Kumho Tire, the Shenzhen-listed company announced on Monday, striking a cut-price deal to take control of the debt-laden South Korean tyre manufacturer after dropping its initial bid last year.
The transaction, which will see Doublestar taking a 45% stake through a capital injection and looks set to be corporate China's biggest-ever Korean acquisition, puts an end to the prolonged saga over the future of the decades-old tyre maker, which has dragged on for years.
Most importantly, the capital injection is a last-ditch effort to rescue Kumho Tire ahead of a March...