STX Group Selling Overseas Assets to Withstand Worsening Market Conditions

SEOUL (Dow Jones)–South Korean shipping-to-shipbuilding conglomerate STX Group said Sunday it won’t seek large-scale merger and acquisition bids in the future and will instead focus on improving its own financial standing to help withstand worsening market conditions.

“We plan to aggressively improve our financial structure through overseas asset sales and capital attraction by the first quarter of next year,” STX Group said in a statement.

The group said it plans to secure more than 700 billion won ($610 million) via the sale of its overseas assets by early next year and attract KRW600 billion in funds for its STX Energy affiliate by the first quarter of next year.

Shares of STX Group units fell sharply late last week on market talk they were having difficulty securing funds.

Last month, STX Corp. (011810.SE), the holding company of STX Group, dropped its bid for a controlling stake in Hynix Semiconductor Inc. (HXSCF, 000660.SE), citing market uncertainties and financial burden.

-By In-Soo Nam, Dow Jones Newswires

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