STX Business Group, the troubled South Korean conglomerate, plans to sell its controlling stake in STX Shipbuilding & Offshore and sell its shares in the yards in France and Finland, Korea Times reports.
STX chairman Kang Duk-soo has decided to offload all of its overseas assets to address cash flow problems. Also, he decided to hand over his controlling stakes in STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, a key affiliate of the group, the paper reports on its website.
"We will keep our three crucial affiliates ― STX Heavy, STX Engine and STX Offshore. The group plans to sell its shares in its overseas affiliates including our shipyards in France, Finland and Dalian in China,’’ said a spokesman for the group, Tuesday, according to the paper.
The STX group owns 100% of the shares in STX Finland that has a yard in Turku and another one in Rauma, plus 64% of the shares in STX France. It controls these holdings via its Oslo based STX Europe subsidiary. At Christmas, the group sold its remaining shares in a Singapore based holding company of yards that build offshore services vessels. The problems of STX arise from a sharp fall in activity in the shipbuilding industry in the wake of the economic downturn.
All three yards are involved in passenger ship building.
