Citigroup Inc will be the first foreign lender to join Korean banks in helping Hynix Semiconductor Inc stay in business with a US$3.5 billion bailout, the second rescue of the company in three months.
Citigroup's Citibank NA unit has yet to agree to the company's request that creditor banks swap three trillion won (US$2.3 billion) of its debt for shares and lend a further 500 billion won to upgrade factories. The bank arranged an 800 billion won loan for the company earlier this year, while Citigroup's Salomon Smith Barney Inc is the company's financial adviser.
"Under US banking regulations, we cannot own shares in Hynix so a debt-for-equity swap would not be possible," said YB Imm, Citibank's country risk manager in Seoul. "We could swap debt for convertible bonds" as suggested by Salomon.
Still, Citibank would prefer rolling over existing debt, rather than swapping it for convertible bonds, Imm said. He declined to comment on how much the bank is owed by the third-largest maker of computer memory chips. Korea Exchange Bank said Citibank has the largest exposure to Hynix among foreign lenders.
Citibank attended a local creditors meeting regarding Hynix on Friday, at the invitation of main creditor Korea Exchange Bank, Hynix and Salomon.
Hynix chief executive officer, Park Chong Sup is visiting the company's eight largest creditor banks accompanied by Salomon Smith Barney officials to make presentations on the bailout proposal, the company said.
The company's share rose 12 percent to 1,030 won yesterday, as local individual investors bet the banks will decided in favor of the plan. The stock recently traded at 975 won leaving it down 77 percent this year -- the worst performing stock on the KOSPI.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from