South Korean snack-maker Orion mulls bid for Tesco unit valued at $6bn

Shares in Seoul-based snack-maker Orion dropped on 15 June, following news that it could table a bid for Tesco's South Korean unit, valued at about $6bn (£3.87bn, €5.35bn).

Shares in Orion, the manufacturer of the Choco Pie dessert, finished 4.62% lower after it said it had made no decisions on whether to pursue a formal offer.

Orion had received an information memorandum about the sale of the Tesco unit – Homeplus – an Orion spokesman told Reuters previously.

Troubled Tesco has reportedly hired HSBC to advise on the sale of its South Korean operations.

Tesco's South Korean business, its biggest business outside of the UK, could attract bids from global buyout firms KKR, the Carlyle Group, CVC Partners and TPG Capital Management. It could also interest some homegrown Asian buyout firms including MBK Partners, the news agency reported earlier.

The potential sale of the South Korean business comes after Tesco announced in April its worst ever annual loss, hit by a one-off £7bn write-down.

The 96-year-old company is being restructured. The retailer, preoccupied by expensive overseas expansion, failed to spot the threat from discounters back home, resulting in lost market share and waning profits.

It was also hit by an accounting scandal and ratings downgrades.

Tesco's South Korean unit generated £5.38bn of revenue excluding value-added tax for the financial year 2014/15, a 4% drop in like-for-like sales from the previous year, according to its annual report.

The retailer had 425 outlets in South Korea at the end of the 2014/15 financial year.