Kumho group says found investor for Tire stake
SEOUL, July 30 (Reuters) - Kumho Asiana Group has found an investor to take over a stake in its Kumho Tire (073240.KS) affiliate worth $109 million from Cooper Tire Cooper Tire & Rubber Co (CTB.N), a group official told Reuters on Wednesday.
Kumho Tire said on Tuesday it was seeking investors to take over the stake that U.S.-based Cooper planned to sell.
In 2005, Cooper bought a 10.71 percent stake in Kumho, South Korea's No.2 tyre maker, at 109.8 billion won ($108.7 million), or 14,641 won per share, according to a filing to the Korea Exchange.
"We have found an investor to take over the Kumho Tire stake and we are at the final stage of closing the deal," said the official.
"We should be able to announce the details soon, on around August 1. The investor is foreign...," he added.
Shares related to Kumho Asiana Group shares such as Asiana Airlines (020560.KS) and Kumho Industrial (002990.KS) have tumbled across the board on Tuesday on worries about whether the group would be able to find an investor.
Kumho Industrial was down 9.39 percent to 21,700 won and Asiana Airlines was down 2.42 percent to 4,830 won as of 0255 GMT.
Shares in Kumho Tire were down 7.65 percent to 7,850 won.
(Reporting by Park Jung-youn; editing by Keiron Henderson)
