Hyundai Motor family succeeds at Glovis stake sale on second attempt

Chungs commit to lock-up period of just under 2 years for their remaining combined stake of nearly 30%

Hyundai Motor Co's chairman and his son sold $1.1 billion worth of shares in logistics firm Hyundai Glovis Co Ltd, finding success in their second attempt at a sale after committing to a long lock-up period for their remaining stakes and slashing the price.

Chairman Chung Mong-koo and son Chung Eui-sun had sought to sell 13% of the affiliate to comply with new antitrust rules.

But investors walked away from an initial sale attempt last month, worried that the family may be pulling out from Hyundai Glovis and uncertain if the stake sale was key to the group's efforts to hand over control to the younger Chung.

To soothe investors' concerns, the Chungs committed to a lock-up period of just under two years for their remaining combined stake of nearly 30%.

Advisors tapped the market ahead of the rebooted deal and asked investors what conditions they would prefer, people familiar with the deal told Reuters. They declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

"The lock-up period cleared up uncertainty about what the family would do with Glovis and offered investors a chance to maximize value in the meantime," said Kim Min-ji, a logistics analyst at E-Trade Korea.

The collapse of the sale last month had also sparked a 21% decline in Hyundai Glovis shares, and the final price came in 17% below the high-end of the initial sale's indicative range.

Some 5 million shares in Hyundai Glovis were sold at 230,500 won each, a discount of 2.7% to Thursday's close. That compares with a marketing range of 227,500-232,500 won.

Shares in Hyundai Glovis rose 2.3% in morning trade, outperforming a flat broader market.

The lock-up, however, has lowered expectations that the founding family would sell Hyundai Glovis shares to increase holdings in key affiliates such as auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis.

Shares in Hyundai Mobis fell as much as 5%.

The deal's managers were Citigroup and NH Investment & Securities, unlike last month when Citigroup was the sole manager.

($1 = 1,085.7500 won)