이 기사는 2022년 01월 05일 08:07 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Doubts are mounting over whether an Edison Motors-led consortium will be able to take over the bankrupt SsangYong Motor after financial investor Keystone Private Equity’s decision to put off its investment plan.

Main creditor Korea Development Bank (KDB) has remained negative about financial support, questioning the consortium’s turnaround plan for SsangYong.

Keystone PE has recently decided to postpone its plan to invest in the consortium’s acquisition of the bankrupt carmaker, industry sources said on Monday. The Edison Motors-led consortium, which includes the Korea Corporate Governance Improvement and Keystone PE, was picked as the preferred negotiator for the ailing carmaker in October last year.

Keystone PE joined the consortium based on the Edison Motors’ plan to transform SsangYong into an electric vehicle-focused carmaker in the next three to five years and reach 10 trillion won ($8.36 billion) in sales by 2030. The EV carmaker also said it would need 1.5 trillion won to acquire SsangYong.

Keystone PE raised questions about Edison Motors’ plan, saying it hasn’t received a business plan to actually make the investment.

KDB has also been skeptical about the EV carmaker. “It is most important to have a sustainable business plan, and no financial support will be available unless the company has a clear and sustainable business plan,” said KDB chairman Lee Dong-gull during the press conference in late November.

Edison Motors said it would raise 800 billion won from banks including KDB by using SsangYong’s Pyeongtaek plant as collateral. “Collateral is only a means of supplementing financial support and we can’t provide financial support only because it offered collateral,” said Lee. The state-run bank already has 190 billion won in outstanding loan to SsangYong.

KDB is paying attention to the situation after Keystone PE expressed its intention to pull out of the consortium amid doubts over the consortium’s business plan.

Market observers said the state-run bank is likely to reject the SsangYong’s rehabilitation plan. The deadline for submitting the plan for corporate rehabilitation procedure was earlier this month but was delayed until March 1.

The plan has to earn approval from two-thirds of the creditors to get the nod from the court. In 2009, the state-run lender opposed India-based Mahindra & Mahindra‘s proposed acquisition of SsangYong. (Reporting by Gyu-hee Kim)