The deal that was met with raised eyebrows was not to be. After announcing that it would acquire Ssangyong Motors 쌍용자동차 out of bankruptcy, Edison Motors 에디슨 모터스 failed to close the deal as Ssangyong announced on March 28 that the acquisition was canceled as Edison failed to make the required payment.
Edison was a surprising candidate for the acquisition, as the mid-sized electric bus maker with an annual revenue of KRW 89.7b (USD 75.6m) in 2020 was attempting to acquire South Korea’s fourth largest automaker with an annual revenue of KRW 2.9t (USD 2.4b). (See previous coverage, “Edison Acquires Ssangyong.”) The announcement crashed the share price for Edison, putting it at risk of being delisted from the stock market while triggering an investigation for insider trading as Edison’s major shareholders dumped their stocks.
Ssangyong Motors, whose troubled history served as a backdrop for the hit Netflix series Squid Game 오징어게임 (the main character is a laid-off autoworker), is again searching for a buyer after two bankruptcies. Ssangbangwool Group 쌍방울, with a subsidiary Kanglim Co., Ltd. (주) 광림 which manufactures specialized construction vehicles, announced on April 2 its intention to acquire Ssangyong.
