Originally, the South Korean government had wanted to sell off 50% of SEP through an IPO. Then the plan was modified and only a 30% stake was to be offered. Now the date has been postponed to sometime “before the end of year”.
In a statement KEPCO privatisation team spokesperson Lee Chul-ho said, “The company [remains] committed to the IPO, but weakness in South Korea’s stock market [means] that the timetable had to be delayed.”
This decision is a slap in the face of the government’s plans to spin-off five non-nuclear KEPCO units. It also puts the brakes on the privatisation of the country’s monopoly gas provider Korea Gas Corp, which had already roused interest from the likes of Royal Dutch/Shell and ExxonMobil.
Privatisation is a touchy subject in South Korea and the process has come under fierce opposition from the country’s powerful labour unions and from elements within the government itself.
