This article was published on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 3:53 p.m. on Sep. 26, 2025.
Tire Bank plans to pay the remaining purchase price for Air Premia by the 30th. It plans to wait until the deadline to make the payment, saying it is to minimize financial expense.
Tire Bank said it is still considering arranging acquisition financing until the last minute and is reported to have asked some institutions for an annual interest rate in the 3% range. It is said to have judged that low-interest acquisition financing would be possible if it provided its owned real estate as collateral.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 26th, Tire Bank group plans to pay 99.4 billion won of the purchase price for 22% of Air Premia by the 30th. The total purchase price is 119.427 billion won, of which the 20 billion won deposit has already been paid to Sono International-JC Partners.
Tire Bank initially set the unlisted company "Seonggong-eul Mandeuneun," wholly owned by Chairman Kim Jeong-gyu's daughters, as the party to acquire the shares, but recently switched to having Tire Bank, the group's center and cash cow, make the acquisition. The contract party for the 22% stake is "Seonggong-eul Mandeuneun," but it is reported that there was a contract clause to the effect that a third party designated by the party could instead acquire the shares.
Tire Bank planned to resolve gift tax concerns over transfers to the daughters by completing the Air Premia acquisition through "Seonggong-eul Mandeuneun" (related article☞ [Exclusive] Acquisition party for Air Premia changed to "Seonggong-eul Mandeuneun"… tax issues behind the move), but it is said to have felt burdened by public suspicion about this.
If Tire Bank, which has sufficient assets, steps in as the direct acquirer, it can to some extent dispel suspicions of gifting and reduce the effort of transferring funds between affiliates. When AP Holdings acquired 30.42% of Air Premia from JC Partners and others in 2023, Tire Bank once acted as a "funding source" by buying 53.3 billion won out of 81 billion won worth of convertible bonds issued by AP Holdings.
According to the IB industry, Tire Bank reportedly received acquisition financing proposals from multiple securities firms ahead of this payment. However, there are reports that the securities firms expressed reluctance to the request to set interest rates in the 3% range. Recently, senior acquisition financing rates have formed in the mid-5% range.
Tire Bank is said to have used interest rates in the 4% range when it first acquired Air Premia shares in the past. The industry speculates that because it owns so much real estate, it provided these properties as collateral and received low-interest acquisition financing. This structure differs from typical acquisition financing.
As of the end of last year, Tire Bank's noncurrent assets totaled about 870 billion won, of which land and buildings were 383.4 billion won and 158.3 billion won respectively. Tire Bank also underwent a real estate asset revaluation last year. It reflected revaluation gains of 227.2 billion won in other comprehensive income, and it is understood that the maximum amount of loans secured by real estate collateral was also greatly increased.