Debt extension for Hyundai Merchant

SINGAPORE: Hyundai Merchant Marine Co, South Korea’s second-biggest container-shipping line, won more time from lenders to raise funds to repay 1.2 trillion won (US$1bil) of debt as the cash-strapped company negotiates to get out of a financial crisis.

Korea Development Bank (KDB) and other creditors including Woori Bank agreed to extend the maturity of Hyundai Merchant’s debt by three months starting yesterday, the state-owned lender said in an e-mailed statement. The shipping line needed to convince bondholders and shipowners to join the restructuring plan, the lender said.