Hanjin shares jump 25% as US assets go on sale

Shares in Hanjin Shipping surged by as much as 25% after the indebted firm announced that it was beginning the process to sell its US assets.

In a regulatory filing, Hanjin said it would look for letters of intent from buyers by the end of the month.

The company applied for receivership in August after creditors had pulled their support for the heavily indebted firm.

Hanjin Shipping is 6tn won ($5.4bn, £4.1bn) in debt and the asset sale will be used to pay back creditors.

The Korean court overseeing the company's receivership process approved the auction of its major assets, including its Asia-US route network.

According to the Reuters news agency, the spokesman for the Seoul Central District Court said the deadline for binding bids was expected to be 7 November.

Ships and operations

Aside from several container ships, the sale will also include the company's subsidiaries handling the Asia-US cargo operations.

Hanjin's bankruptcy is the largest to hit the shipping industry and affected global supply chains.

The company has since been granted legal protection preventing its ships from seizure in various ports including South Korea, the United States and Japan.

Before the bankruptcy, Hanjin was the world's seventh-largest container line and had been unprofitable for four of the past five years.

The global economic downturn in recent years has affected profits across the cargo shipping industry.