Daewoo Elec to pick buyers for TV and non-core units

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Daewoo Electronics Corp is set to pick potential buyers for its non-core businesses, including TV manufacturing, by next week as it restructures to focus on appliances, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Daewoo Electronics, once a flagship of the failed Daewoo Group but now owned by creditors, has put up unprofitable business units for sale after three failed attempts to sell the entire company.

The TV, air conditioner, vacuum cleaner and electronics parts businesses are on the sales block, to be purchased separately or in a package.

"There are several interested parties for each business we are selling," CEO Lee Sung told reporters at a news conference. "We plan to name primary bidders by April 22."

Lee did not identify any potential bidders but said those who submitted letters of intent include one foreign investor.

In earlier attempts to sell Daewoo, creditors mostly held talks with foreign companies. Ripplewood Holdings was the latest contender but talks with the U.S. private equity firm collapsed in January in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

Prior to that, creditors also held failed negotiations with a consortium of India's Videocon Industries (VEDI.BO) and RHJ International (RHJI.BR), the holding company for Ripplewood, as well as a private equity unit of Morgan Stanley (MS.N).

Lee said Daewoo would focus on its mainstay appliance products including refrigerators, washing machines and microwave ovens, which are expected to post 1.2 trillion won ($896.5 million) in sales and about 30 billion won in operating profit this year.

In 2008, Daewoo posted 3.2 billion won in operating profit on 1.9 trillion won in sales. Its TV business alone saw more than 40 billion won in operating loss last year.

Lee said the sale process for the restructured Daewoo Electronics could resume once the company fully turns around and improves cash flow. He did not elaborate.

Unlisted Daewoo was placed under a debt rescheduling program after its parent group went bankrupt in 1999. The company, which competes with low-priced Chinese producers and bigger local brands Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and LG Electronics (066570.KS), generates more than 80 percent of its sales abroad.

($1=1338.5 Won)

(Reporting by Rhee So-eui; Editing by Marie-France Han and Jacqueline Wong)