SEOUL—The South Korean bankruptcy court handling Hanjin Shipping Co. 117930 10.70 % ’s insolvency proceedings said Thursday it plans to dispose of the firm’s sales and marketing network for its Asia-U.S. route, in an effort to raise funds and help rehabilitate the indebted company.
The court will put up a sales notice as early as Friday, a judge at the Seoul Central District Court said.
Hanjin subsidiaries involved in handling Asia-U.S. cargo as well as some container ships would be sold, he said. He declined to say if any local or foreign companies had shown any interest in the assets.
A few weeks ago the court indicated that it is considering selling the entire company, together with its major assets abroad including a French unit that makes cruise ships.
Hanjin Shipping, the country’s biggest shipping company and the world’s seventh largest in terms of capacity, filed for bankruptcy protection in late August and is under a court order to sell its own ships and return chartered ships to their owners.
The company has a total of 97 container ships, of which 60 were chartered and 37 owned by Hanjin.
Hanjin’s Korean peer Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. 011200 0.74 % will be the first to assess Hanjin’s 37 container vessels. Government officials have said they would back Hyundai HYMLY 0.00 % in buying Hanjin assets, provided such a move would help it stay competitive. Hyundai Merchant, which is itself in the midst of a creditor-led restructuring program, said it is exploring all possibilities with Hanjin but nothing has been decided.
Danish conglomerate A.P. Møller-Mærsk AMKBY 0.98 % A/S isn’t likely to move to buy either Hyundai Merchant or Hanjin Shipping, contrary to industry speculation that it would take over either one or both of them, according to people familiar with the matter.
Instead, Maersk, the world’s biggest container operator in terms of capacity, is likely to wait for other distressed operators to seek buyout deals as they try to avoid bankruptcy, the people said last week.
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