Hanwha Group gears up for foray into aviation industry

South Korea’s chemicals-to-defense conglomerate Hanwha Group is preparing a bid for domestic low-cost carrier (LCC) Fly Gangwon under court protection, a move seen as a first step in its aim to become a full-fledged defense company across land, sea and air.

Hanwha is now in the final stages of reviewing its bid, a deal estimated at 20 billion-30 billion won ($15 million-$23 million), according to sources familiar with the matter on Friday.

Founded in 2016, Fly Gangwon was put up for sale after it filed for court receivership last May. Including operating expenses such as aircraft leases, an additional 50 billion won may need to be put into the LCC startup to normalize its business.

The Seoul Bankruptcy Court will receive bids in the stalking horse sale process this month, under which it will sign a tentative agreement with a preferred buyer and then open the door to other bidders to attract better terms. Samil PwC is managing the sale.

Two to three private equity firms have handed in letters of intent, but Hanwha is touted as the strongest candidate in terms of financial capability.

Industry observers said the bid for the cash-strapped airline is a just the first step for Hanwha to enter the aviation industry.

The country’s No. 7 conglomerate is widely speculated to replace Korean Air Lines Co. as the buyer of Asiana Airlines Inc. as the flag carrier’s 1.8-trillion-won purchase of the latter has been stalled for almost three years due to monopoly issues.

Now that the Korea Development Bank (KDB) is understood to be preparing a Plan B against a possible collapse of Korean Air’s purchase of Asiana Airlines, a number of business groups hired advisors to study possible bids for Asiana.

“The buyout of Flying Gangwon will be just the beginning. Hanwha Group is keeping an eye on Asiana Airlines as an acquisition target,” an investment banking source told Market Insight, the capital market news outlet of The Korea Economic Daily.

Back in 2019, when Asiana’s owner Kumho Group put the airline up for sale, Hanwha was viewed as a strong candidate. It did not join the race, but formed a task force to study the financial and legal aspects of the bid, the sources said.

LAST PIECE OF PUZZLE

The aviation industry is the last piece of the puzzle for Hanwha to round out its arms manufacturing business. It produces land and sea defense systems, as well as weapons.

Further, it will likely help the aircraft engine and parts manufacturing unit Hanwha Aerospace Co. expand its customer base, and enter the aircraft maintenance, repair and operation market.

“After buying Fly Gangwon, if Hanwha grows in size through the acquisition of a large to medium-sized airline, it will gain negotiating power as a parts supplier for aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus,” another industry official said.

It is not the first time Hanwha has attempted to foray into the aviation industry. In 2017, it invested in domestic budget carrier Aero K Airlines Co. as a financial investor.

But two years later, Aero K Airlines had its air carrier license revoked due to financial difficulties.

Hanwha also has been speculated as a strong candidate to buy South Korea’s sole aircraft maker Korea Aerospace Industries Co. (KAI) if it is put on the market.

KAI's largest shareholder Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) has not offered to sell its 26.41% stake in the aircraft manufacturer and Hanwha Group denied such speculation late last year.

SYNERGY

Fly Gangwon is also expected to bolster Hanwha’s hotel and leisure business run by Hanwha Hotels & Resorts and Hanwha Galleria Corp., a department store operator.

Hanwha Group has also expanded into the submarine and warship-building market. Earlier this year, it took a 49.3% stake in loss-making Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME), renamed Hanwha Ocean Co.

It snatched up DSME, the country's largest warship and submarine builder, after Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s largest shipbuilder, failed to take it over after the European Commission vetoed the deal.

LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION

For Hanwha Group’s owner family, the acquisition of Fly Gangwon may accelerate its generational leadership transition to the three sons of Chairman Kim Seung-youn.

The conglomerate with 83 trillion won in assets is splitting up its businesses three ways.

His youngest son Kim Dong-seon is spearheading the bid for the budget carrier. Since Hanwha Galleria was spun off from Hanwha Solutions Corp. last March, he has been in charge of M&A strategy of the department store operator.

The junior Kim is said to take over the conglomerate’s retail business, which accounts for a smaller portion of the group. Given that, the group is speculated to add a new business such as the aviation service to hand over to the third son.

This is why Hanwha Galleria is at the forefront of bidding for Fly Gangwon, according to industry officials.

His eldest brother and Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan will oversee the solar energy and defense units. The second son and Hanwha Life Insurance Co. Chief Executive Kim Dong-won will lead the group’s financial services division spanning insurance, brokerage and asset management.

But if Hanwha joins the competition for Asiana Airlines, Hanwha Galleria may team up with financial investors to fund the purchase, industry officials said. Otherwise, the group’s holding company Hanwha Corp. could come to the rescue by selling new shares to support the Galleria-Asiana deal.

Hanwha Galleria holds 95.8 billion won in cash and cash equivalents.

Write to Jong-Kwan Park and Jun-Ho Cha at pjk@hankyung.com
 

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.