SEOUL, South Korea -- Samsung, South Korea's second-largest conglomerate, said Monday it would swap its fledgling automobile subsidiary for Daewoo Group's home appliance businesses.
The $10 billion deal was the highlight of plans announced by the heads of the nation's top five conglomerates to sharply pare the number of affiliates that each controls.In all, the Samsung, Hyundai, Daewoo, LG and SK groups said they would spin off at least 130 of their 264 subsidiaries in a move to raise some 20 trillion won ($16.6 billion).
If successful, the sales, mergers and swaps would allow each of the giant groups to lower debt levels to twice their equity by the end of l999. Some now have debt almost six times equity.
The announcement came after leaders of the five conglomerates met with President Kim Dae-jung, who has been pressing them for months to restructure their bloated, overlapping empires.
Analysts generally hailed the announcement, but some questioned whether the conglomerates can find buyers for many of their money-losing affiliates.
Some of those affiliates have been kept afloat for years only through cross-funding and debt guarantees by other businesses within their group.
"To reduce the debt-capital ratio, they have to sell a huge amount of assets or increase their capital drastically in a short period of time," said Yoon Kun-young, an economics professor at Yonsei University.
"Only foreign investors have that much money and I don't think they would just rush to buy everything in the market." he said.
The conglomerates have made similar promises to restructure in the past, but backed away from taking action. The government said it will closely monitor enforcement this time, and that government-controlled creditor banks will call in loans and cut off credit if the conglomerates fail to make good on their pledges.
With $2.7 billion in 1997 sales, Daewoo Electronics Co. is South Korea's No. 2 home appliance maker after Samsung Electronics. It runs 28 assembly plants in England, Poland, France, Mexico and other countries.
Daewoo Motor Co., South Korea's No. 2 auto maker, will take over Samsung Motors, the nation's newest and smallest car manufacturer. The swap will leave the country with but two auto makers, Daewoo and Hyundai Motors, which recently absorbed bankrupt Kia Motor Corp.
A restructuring of South Korea's ailing conglomerates, or chaebol, was a key condition of a $58 billion bailout of the country's economy by the International Monetary Fund last year.