Hyundai Motor Gets Approval for Hyundai Autonet Acquisition

By Staff Reporter

Seoul August 2, 2005; Na Jeong-ju writing for the Korea Times reported that a consortium led by Hyundai Automotive Group will soon finalize the takeover of Hyundai Autonet, the nation’s largest car audio maker.

The Public Fund Oversight Committee yesterday approved the acquisition of the car audio equipment producer by a consortium formed by Hyundai Motor and Germany-based Siemens AG.

The panel approved the sale of a 43.24-percent stake held by state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. (KDIC) in Hyundai Autonet for 237 billion won ($230 million).

The committee’s sale approval follows the one last month by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the country’s corporate watchdog.

The Hyundai Motor-Siemens consortium was picked in early March as the preferred negotiator to acquire a 50.2-percent stake in the firm, which currently supplies more than 50 percent of the audio equipment for vehicles made by Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors.

Hyundai Autonet, split off from troubled Hynix Semiconductor in 2000, has been managed by the KDIC.

Last year, the auto parts producer posted a net profit of 45.6 billion won on sales of 548 billion won.

If the market share of Hyundai affiliate Bontec is added, Hyundai is expected to take 70 percent of the car audio market after the takeover.

``We recognized a possible monopoly in the car audio market after the takeover, but we concluded Hyundai Autonet is not a car audio maker but an automotive multimedia electronics goods manufacturer,’’ the FTC said in a statement in June.