▪The Cooperative Association of SYMC’s Creditors held a general assembly.
▪The Association decided to support SYMC’s recent moves for M&A and the modified revival plan.
▪They also called for a firm determination of all parties involved for a full support concerning that the plan might be rejected as when it was first approved.

The SYMC’s Creditors’ Association (hereafter referred to as the Creditors) held a general assembly at SYMC’s Human Resources Development Center, located at Ansung, Gyunggi-do Province, and stated what position they would take at the Deliberation and Resolution Meeting for the modified company revival plan of Ssangyong Motor Company. The assembly, composed of the entire 600 member companies, was planned to pre-adjust different opinions and form a consensus.

 At the Assembly, Samjung KPMG, the official accounting firm, briefed on the modified revival plan submitted by SYMC and opened the floor for a questions and answers session. A majority of attendants agreed to the changed version of the company revival plan. The creditors’ position will be delivered to the Court and all other parties involved at the next meeting of the relevant parties.

 The Creditors’ decision is based upon the judgment that approving the modified revival plan reflecting the recent M&A, even though it may have come short of the vendors expectation and brought additional loss, was the best alternative option to protect vendor companies’ interest while minimizing accruing loss.

In addition, a consensus was formed that a successful M&A would be the only way for SYMC to focus its strength on new product development and further to lay ground for a long-term, stable growth that can be shared with vendor companies. The Creditors reached the decision concerning that the modified plan would be rejected by the foreign credit banks and other key parties involved as happened in the approval session.

 Ssangyong Motor Company, with its painstaking efforts to improve its management structure while introducing a new culture for mature labor-management relationship, sold 81,000 units of vehicles in total last year, far exceeding its annual sales target of 68,562 units by 19%. In 2011, the launch of Korando in domestic market is expected to give a spur to the annual sales target set at 123,000 units. It seems that the mutual understanding that the normalization of the company management will be the locomotive of the sales boost, which will be directly linked to the interest of the vendor companies resulted in the Creditors’ decision for agreeing to the new revival plan that will expedite the conclusion of a successful M&A.

 On behalf of Ssanyong Motor Company, legal trustees, Lee Yoo-il and Park Young-tae as well as Kim Gyu-hwan, the head of Labor Union, attended the Assembly and reiterated their commitment for reviving the company and expressed their gratitude for the sacrifice that the vendor companies would have to bear by agreeing to the revised version of the company revival plan. “The entire management and employees at SYMC are fully committed to revive the company as a leading global SUV manufacturer and to repay our debts to the vender companies’ sacrifice. Our efforts will set a role model in forming a partnership between big company and small-and-medium-sized vendor companies,” they acclaimed.

 “The creditors of commercial transaction are the biggest victims of Ssangyong Motor Company’s going under and staying in legal management. We, nevertheless, decided to agree to the revised plan concerning that the rejection of the plan might bring more negative ripple effects,” said Oh Yoo-il, the representative of the Cooperative Association of SYMC’s Creditors. “We, therefore, call other parties in stake, for a full support so that SYMC should reemerge as a competitive automobile maker and to contribute to the development of the country let alone the local community. The Association would like to express our gratitude to the Government and Korean people for their concern and support, and we, as vendor companies, will be also fully committed to supply the best-quality parts that will be essential to the quality assurance,” he added.