Edison Motors' bid for SsangYong collapsed when its consortium missed a ₩304.9bn payment

In a regulatory filing on Monday 28 March 2022, SsangYong Motor said it had terminated its acquisition contract after a consortium led by Edison Motors failed to deposit the ₩304.9 billion ($274.3 million) price by the 25 March deadline. The Seoul Bankruptcy Court had designated the Edison consortium as preferred bidder in October 2021, so the Korea Times said SsangYong had wasted five more months.

The company, once a leader in Korea's SUV market with models such as the Korando, had been pushed out by changing owners and its inability to adapt to the auto market's trends since the 2000s, the editorial said. It now faced a deadline: if it did not find another owner by October, the end of the court receivership, it would enter liquidation, affecting up to 200,000 people connected to the carmaker, including suppliers and 5,000 executives and employees.

The editorial pointed to some improvement: SsangYong's J100 electric model was due to be unveiled in late June and another EV, the U100, was planned with China's BYD for the second half of the next year. The state-run Korea Development Bank, its main creditor, could hardly inject more funds.

The Edison-led consortium did not deposit the ₩304.9 billion price on time; the editorial does not say why.

The Korea Times counted five months wasted between the court naming the consortium preferred bidder in October 2021 and the missed payment.

SsangYong's main creditor, the Korea Development Bank, could hardly provide more funding.

The receivership deadline in October left little time to find another buyer.

A bidder named preferred must be able to fund the price when due. A missed payment costs the target months it may not have.

SsangYong had until October 2022 to find a new owner or face liquidation. The editorial urged SsangYong's union, management, creditors and the government to keep the company afloat. Other sources outside this article cover the later sale; this article reports only the failure.