Hyundai secures $650 million in new bank loans

Hyundai Electronic Industries Co. on Friday took the first step in its financial restructuring by obtaining $650 million in new bank loans to pay off short-term bonds coming due in the next year. Hyundai had hoped to recycle its large short-term debt into longer term loans, but the latest financing must be paid back in one to two years.

Hyundai Electronic officials said they are still continuing the refinancing program, hoping to sell off stock that the company holds in sister affiliates of the chaebol. The electronics unit is trying to pay down its estimated $9 billion in debt.Citibank Corp. was the lead bank in the syndicate for the latest loan, which included nine Korean domestic banks. The presence of a major foreign bank as the lead in the syndicate helped defuse charges that the government was again trying to shore up a Korean chip maker solely through domestic bank loans, some sources said.