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To: Earlie who wrote (42937)	2/11/1999 10:37:00 AM
From: DJBEINO	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 53903

Hyundai, LG to Let 3rd Parties Decide Chip Unit Takeover Price Bloomberg News February 11, 1999, 2:34 a.m. PT Seoul, Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Hyundai and LG groups, under pressure from the Korean government, said they will let a third party decide pricing for Hyundai's takeover of LG's computer memory chip unit unless they reach an agreement by next week. Heads of Hyundai Electronics Industries Co., a unit of Korea's largest conglomerate, and LG Group's corporate restructuring office agreed to ask six outside experts to value LG Semicon Co. by the end of this month. Under a government-brokered arrangement, the two will sign a formal contract by March 7 for Hyundai Electronics' takeover of LG Semicon. The merger will create a memory chip company that, in production capacity terms, will rival world leader Samsung Electronics Co. . ''Hyundai and LG pledged they will accept punitive measures from their creditor banks if they do not implement the agreement,'' said Sandy Park, spokeswoman at the Financial Supervisory Commission, the state watchdog overseeing corporate reforms. Last month, LG agreed to sell the chip unit to Hyundai only after the government pressured creditors to cut off LG Semicon's access to fresh loans. It was the first time the government resorted to financial sanctions in its campaign to force debt-ridden conglomerates to slim down by selling, closing or swapping weak subsidiaries. Financial Advisers Under the agreement signed today by Hyundai Electronics President Kim Young Hwan and LG reform chief Kang Yu Sig, the two companies will let their foreign financial advisers work out LG Semicon's value if Kim and Kang don't strike a deal by tomorrow. ''LG will present a new price to Hyundai by tomorrow morning,'' an LG official said. LG has already named Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. and Lehman Brothers Inc. to assess LG Semicon's value, while Hyundai hired Merrill Lynch & Co. to evaluate the transaction. The two sides have been haggling over pricing since Hyundai agreed to buy LG Semicon on Jan. 7. If the foreign advisers also fail to reach agreement, then a six-member committee, including a government official and representatives of the nation's three credit rating companies, will put a value on LG Semicon by the end of this month. Today's agreement was reached hours after Kang Bong Kyun, chief economic adviser to President Kim Dae Jung, suggested settlement over pricing through a third party.