Daewoo Heavy employees to sign bid agreement

Employees of Daewoo Heavy Industries & Machinery expect to sign an agreement this week to bid for a stake in the company with an investor group led by the owner of the nation’s No. 3 mobile-phone carrier, the Korea Herald reported. Two worker groups expect to sign a memorandum of understanding with a group formed by Park Byeong-yeop, vice chairman and the largest shareholder of mobile-phone company Pantech. Byeong-yeop formed a consortium with local investors to join the bidding. His company acquired the mobile-phone arm of Hyundai Group in 2001 and did not lay off any employees. The employee groups plan to raise about 160 billion won to fund the joint purchase, labor representatives said. The Korean government acquired about 50 percent of Daewoo Heavy after its parent, Daewoo Group, collapsed in 1999. The government plans to select a preferred bidder to acquire the company in October. Other bidders include the Hyosung and Doosan Korean conglomerates and the U.S. equity fund, Carlyle Group.