The ball is back in the court of HDC Hyundai Development in deciding the fate of Asiana Airlines after full-service carrier’s parent Kumho Industrial and creditors compromised to allow four-week new due diligence on the airliner to reassess buyout value.

HDC Hyundai Development has demanded a 12-week-long due diligence instead of finalizing the buyout deal first signed in December.

Creditors made it clear that it cannot be asked to wait until the end of the year.

Four weeks could give HDC Hyundai an idea of the additional losses and the extra cost it would have to put in after acquisition.

If HDC Hyundai Development sticks to its original 12-week due diligence, the buyout is no longer savable. Creditors have already finished due diligence on the airliner for seven weeks and finds HDC Hyundai Development’s argument for delaying the deal too weak.

HDC has proposed Kumho a tete-a-tete between CEOs, but without including the head of Korea Development Bank, the main creditor, any agreement would be of no use, said a creditor source.

By Choi Seung-jin, Chung Joo-won and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]