April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Motor has recently sold off an 8.5 percent stake worth 34.2 billion won (US$30.16 million) in its Turkish joint venture Hyundai Assan Otomotive Sanayi to the local partner Kibar Holdings, The Bell reported on April 6.

The joint venture, more widely called HAOS, is Hyundai’s longest-serving production plant outside Korea that started operations in Istanbul from 1995.

Now the carmaker owns a 70 percent stake in the plant. 

Hyundai Motor's manufacturing plant in Istanbul

The report said the stake sale came after Kibar Holdings Chairman Ali Kibar’s constant request to exercise his voting rights in the plant’s key decision-making process. He also reportedly discussed the issue with Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo when he visited Korea in 2014.

“Having a local partner is helpful for doing business in Turkey. The partner’s 30 percent shareholding would not pose a serious threat to Hyundai’s managing rights,” a company official was quoted as saying in the report.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)