AIG gains upper hand in battle for Hanaro

The private equity consortium led by insurance group AIG has moved a step closer to winning control of South Korea’s second largest broadband operator Hanaro Telecom, after its USD500 million investment offer was accepted by the telco. The planned investment, which is now awaiting approval by shareholders, would give the consortium a 39.6% stake in Hanaro and help prevent the telco from disappearing under its crippling debt pile. Hanaro’s future has been in doubt for months with AIG at the centre of a heated battle for control of the debt-ridden telco, whose main shareholders – Samsung, LG Group and SK Telecom – clashed heads over competing funding bids from both LG the AIG consortium, having said they would not provide emergency funding until the dispute was resolved.