The consortium of Hyundai Development Co. (HDC) and Mirae Asset Daewoo has been named the preferred bidder of Korea’s No. 2 full-service carrier Asiana Airlines Inc. after handing in the highest bid of 2.5 trillion won ($2.1 billion).

The HDC team’s win over its rival Aekyung-Stone Bridge consortium became final after the board of the airliner’s parent Kumho Industrial Co. approved the decision Tuesday. The deal has passed the transportation ministry’s preliminary eligibility review.

The sale would offer a 31 percent controlling stake in Asiana Airlines plus management rights by handing over existing shares worth 400 billion won and new issues worth 800 billion won.

Shares of Asiana Airlines closed Tuesday 12.9 percent higher at 6,580 won. HDC also finished up 2.13 percent while Mirae Asset Daewoo dropped 2.01 percent.

Pricing ruled over aviation knowhow as Aekyung had focused its pitch on rationalizing the budget industry, combining its budget carrier Jeju Air, which leads the country’s LCC pack, with Asiana’s two low-cost sisters Air Busan and Air Seoul.

The winning group is estimated to have offered 2.5 trillion won for Asiana Airlines and its six units. But whether it will keep the same team under the new owners remains uncertain.

HDC Group, which transformed into a holding entity structure last year, cannot maintain the entire Asiana family under local antitrust laws, which mandate that a second-tier subsidiary, or “granddaughter” of a parent company, has to either wholly own the third-tier unit or give up its control within two years. This means that when Asiana Airlines comes under the HDC Group umbrella, it would have to buy up the remaining stake in its units, a move that would come with a considerable cost, or sell them off entirely.

Asiana Airlines currently owns 100 percent of Air Seoul and Asiana Airport. But it only holds a 44.2 percent stake in Air Busan and 76.2 percent in Asiana IDT.

There have been talks of Asiana unloading some of its subsidiaries or of HDC and other HDC Group units buying up the stakes, according to an investment banking source familiar with the matter.

Industry observers say the unit most likely to go up for sale is the IT service provider Asiana IDT. Major conglomerates with a similar unit have in recent years reduced their stake in the company or unloaded it completely by finding a strategic investor.

Given the intensifying competition in the budget carrier market, another option on the table is selling off Air Busan and Air Seoul as a package deal. Asiana Airlines’ 40 percent stake in the airline catering company Gate Gourmet Korea could also be put on the market.

Mirae Asset Daewoo is likely to keep its stake in Asiana Airlines below 20 percent as a financial company cannot own more than 20 percent in a non-financial firm under Korean laws.

By Han Woo-ram, Song Gwang-sup, Kim Gang-rae and Kim Hyo-jin

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