Hyundai Pays $10 Billion for New HQ Site

Hyundai Motor Group bid 10.6 trillion won to buy a 79,300 sq-m site in Seoul's Gangnam district to house its headquarters and a hotel, convention center and automotive theme park.

The group plans to locate the global headquarters of its Hyundai and Kia car units, Hyundai Mobis Co. parts company and more than two dozen other affiliates to the site.

Thirteen bidders made offers on the property, but only Hyundai and Samsung made the qualifying level. Hyundai's bid, equal to about three times the assessed value of the property, prompted the company's stock to drop 9% to a three-year low on Thursday.

The land was auctioned off by Korea Electric Power Corp. Kepco is relocating its headquarters south to Jeolla province later this year under a seven-year government initiative to expand regional growth. The land sale pushed the utility's stock price to a seven-year high.