Doosan Group’s apparent plans to retain Doosan Bobcat while selling Doosan Infracore—the Doosan subsidiary and parent company of the Bobcat and Doosan equipment brands—have met resistance from creditors, according to a report from the Korea Times.
Doosan Infracore was formed in 2005 when Doosan Group acquired Daewoo Heavy Industries & Machinery. When Doosan purchased Bobcat in 2007, it was slotted under the Infracore division.
The anticipated sale of Doosan Infracore is an effort by the parent Doosan Group to salvage another subsidiary, the debt-ridden Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction. Acquired by Doosan Group in 2001, the division provides power generation and includes engineering and construction services in Doosan’s home country of South Korea.
However, the paper reports that Doosan Group effectively only wants to sell off the Doosan-branded machines. While the company would sell off the Doosan Infracore business and the Doosan-branded excavators, wheel loaders, articulated dump trucks and attachments contained within, it wants to retain the 51 percent stake that the division currently has in Bobcat.
Doosan Group’s potential retention of Bobcat in the sale would have meant that the U.S. subsidiaries of Doosan Infracore—Doosan Infracore North America and Bobcat—would be owned by two separate companies in the future.
“The suspected move is interpreted as the group’s strong intention to keep cash-cow Doosan Bobcat under its control, and use the construction equipment firm to help Doosan Heavy normalize its financial status,” says the Korea Times in the earlier report.
