Haitai Confectionery files for court receivership

Haitai Confectionery said Wednesday that it held a board meeting and decided to file for court receivership.

Officials said that currently under court mediation, the company had requested creditors to defer its payment of interest and principle citing difficulties in management, but the request was rejected on Apr. 3. Consequently, the company defaulted on 25.3 billion won in interest and principle on loans.

Haitai officials said that they decided to file for court receivership because if creditors take legal action such as asset seizure due to the default, it could foil the company`s efforts to sell itself off to a foreign company at the end of this September. The officials said that they will push ahead with the sales plan as scheduled. Nestle, Nabisco, Lotte and Unilever are some of the companies cited as prospective buyers of Haitai Confectionery.

Park Joong-Hyun sanjuck@donga.com