South Korea’s troubled tire maker Kumho Tire will take steps to sell its majority stake to China’s Qingdao Doublestar, a state-run creditor bank said Friday.

According to Korea Development Bank, it will push ahead with a plan to sell it to the Chinese tiremaker for 646.3 billion won ($597.4 million) and close a deal within the first half of this year. 

It is the second attempt to sell the company to a foreign buyer after a deal fell apart due to a strong objection by the company’s labor union in September last year.

“Negotiation with Doublestar was the most rational decision we could make, considering the business normalization of Kumho Tire and minimized loss for creditors,” said creditors, adding that Doublestar’s business outlook seemed feasible. 

The announcement came a day after the creditors decided to postpone the discussion on the fate of the troubled tire maker, as the company’s management and labor union failed to agree on a self-rescue plan. 

Until the end of March, the KDB was to persuade the labor union, as well as attract external capital to save the company, given that the company cannot afford to pay its 1.3 trillion won debt. 

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)