South Korean consortium to buy SsangYong Motor for $255 million

Mahindra & Mahindra may look to start the new year with some positive news for the debt-ridden South Korean SsangYong Motor Company.

As per a Reuters report, a consortium led by South Korean electric carmaker Edison Motors has agreed to acquire debt-ridden SsangYong Motor for 305 billion won ($254.65 million / Rs 1,887 crore).

The Korean carmaker has been burdened with high debt and its vehicle sales last year fell to 84,496 units down about 21% from a year earlier, a regulatory filing from the automaker showed.

The automaker reported a January-September 2021 operating loss of 238 billion won (Rs 1,473 crore) from revenue of 1.8 trillion won (Rs 11,140 crore).

SsangYong has been under court receivership since April in an attempt to rehabilitate the carmaker after majority owner Mahindra and Mahindra failed to secure a buyer. Mahindra owns about 75% stake in SsangYong as at the end of September,  and had been looking for a buyer for all or most of its stake, which it bought when the South Korean automaker was near-bankruptcy in 2010.

Mahindra sold rebadged SsangYong products in India launching the Rexton but the sales were not much to write about.

SsangYong’s new owners make a range of electric buses and trucks, and this acquisition will add to its portfolio.