HD Hyundai Infracore Co., Ltd., formerly known as Doosan Infracore, is a South Korean company that manufactures construction equipment and commercial and military engines. It is one of the largest construction equipment manufacturers by sales revenue.[2] Doosan Infracore was acquired by HD Hyundai (former Hyundai Heavy Industries Group) in 2021. The brand name Develon has been used since 2023.
History
Daewoo Heavy Industries
Daewoo Heavy Industries was founded in 1937 as Chosun Machine Works when Korea was under Japanese rule.[3] After Japan's withdrawal from Korea, the company was nationalized by the government and was transformed into a public company in 1963 as Hankook Machine Industrial. In 1969, Hankook Machine was privatized after being sold to Shinjin Group. In 1975, the company began producing diesel engines with financial support from the German government and technical collaboration with MAN SE.
However, the company was financially strapped due to the lack of domestic demand and unstable direction, and Shinjin had to sell the company back to a government-controlled bank. Then, in 1976, Daewoo Industrial and its affiliates purchased a 44.8% stake in the total share and changed the name to Daewoo Heavy Industries.[4][5]
Doosan Infracore
During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Daewoo collapsed, and its affiliates were sold to other companies. Daewoo Heavy's shareholders first approved separating the firm's shipbuilding and machinery operations into stand-alone companies, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Daewoo Heavy Industries & Machinery.[6][7] In 2005, Korea Development Bank and Korea Asset Management Corporation chose a consortium led by Doosan Heavy Industries as a prime bidder for Daewoo Heavy and officially signed a contract. After the acquisition, Daewoo Heavy was renamed Doosan Infracore.[8][9]
Doosan Infracore expanded the heavy equipment business by acquiring global players. In March 2007, the company acquired Yantai Yuhua Machinery, a wheel loader maker, for 22 million yuan.[10] Doosan recorded South Korea's largest international acquisition by purchasing Bobcat and other construction equipment units from Ingersoll Rand for $4.9 billion in November 2007.[11][12] Doosan's European subsidiary took over Norwegian dump trucks firm Moxy Engineering for €55 million in 2008.[13]
HD Hyundai Infracore
Alike Daewoo in 1997, Doosan Group also faced a liquidity crisis due to years of declining orders amid an economic slowdown. Doosan decided to sell a stake held by Doosan Heavy in Doosan Infracore to improve its financial structure. In 2021, Hyundai Heavy Industries Group purchased a 35 percent stake in Doosan Infracore for 850 billion won.[14][15] However, Doosan Infracore's 51 percent stake in Doosan Bobcat was not included as part of the sale.[16]
Hyundai Doosan Infracore changed its brand name to Develon and adopted the new corporate name HD Hyundai Infracore in 2023. The name change was in line with the parent company, Hyundai Heavy Industries' rebranding to HD Hyundai.[17]
See also
- Defense industry of South Korea
- Daewoo dissolution and corruption scandal
External links
References
- Annual Report englishdart.fss.or.kr, Financial Supervisory Service, December 31, 2023^
- International Construction. World's top 50 reveled www.khl.com, KHL Group, May 2020^
- Various. Routledge Library Editions: Business and Economics in Asia Routledge, 2021-07-14^
- Routledge Library Editions: Business and Economics in Asia Taylor & Francis Group, November 5, 2018^
- Kae H. Chung, Hak Chong Lee. Korean Managerial Dynamics Praeger, November 3, 1989^
- Daewoo Heavy's Shareholders Approve Separation of Shipbuilding and Machinery Wall Street Journal, June 27, 2000^
- Min-jeong Baek, Hyun-suk Cho, Tae-hee Lee. KSOE quits efforts to acquire DSME, FTC says Korea JoongAng Daily, January 14, 2022^
- Ha-won Jung. Doosan Heavy completes Daewoo Heavy takeover Korea JoongAng Daily, April 29, 2005^
- Jung-a Song, Francesco Guerrera. Doosan agrees to buy Daewoo Heavy for $1.8bn Financial Times, January 11, 2005^
- Jin-seo Cho. Doosan Infracore Plans Active Expansion in China The Korea Times, April 23, 2007^
- Shu-Ching Jean Chen. Ingersoll-Rand Unloads Bobcat To S. Korea's Doosan Forbes, July 30, 2007^
- Doosan Bobcat builds global center in U.S. for biz cooperation Yonhap, November 17, 2019^
- Doosan takes over Norwegian dump trucks firm Moxy Construction News, August 26, 2008^
- Cash-strapped Doosan to sell core construction equipment maker unit Yonhap News Agency, June 16, 2020^
- Kwang-sik Nam. Hyundai Heavy completes takeover of Doosan Infracore Yonhap News Agency, August 20, 2021^
- Doo-soon Kang, Gwang-sup Song, Jae-young Park, Jeehyun Cho. Doosan Infracore tender draws bids from Hyundai Heavy, top-tier PEFs Maeil Business Newspaper, September 29, 2020^
- Don McLoud. Hyundai Drops "Doosan" Name – It's Now "HD Hyundai Infracore" March 30, 2023^