South Korea Opens Bidding for Kia Motors

South Korea on Thursday threw open the sale of Kia Motors Corp. to the highest bidder, dropping onerous debt conditions in a bid to end a 14-month saga that helped tip the country into recession.

After two failed auctions, Korea Development Bank and other creditors said they won’t limit the amount of Kia debt they are prepared to forgive. In the third auction, set for Oct. 19, bidders will submit a price for Kia and how much debt they’re willing to accept.

Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Samsung Motor Inc., Daewoo Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. have all been in the running at some point to buy Kia and its Asia Motors Co. affiliate. They pulled out of earlier auctions when creditors said they would write off only $2.1 billion.

The new format could favor Samsung Group, South Korea’s second-biggest business group, which wants to buy Kia to salvage a $3.6-billion investment in its own fledgling auto unit. Samsung has said it could link up with Ford, Kia’s biggest shareholder, which could use a manufacturing base in South Korea to expand in Asia.