South Korea’s STX Group is considering selling an additional 20-per-cent stake in Singapore-listed shipbuilder STX OSV – worth around 260 billion Korean won (S$296 million) – next month or in June, the company said yesterday.

An STX Group spokesman said the method of the stake sale had not yet been decided.

In a bid to improve its financial structure, the spokesman added that the company planned initial public offerings for its China shipyard and cruiseship-making divisions next year.

The stake sale and IPO plans by STX, which floated a 31-per-cent stake in STX OSV last year, comes amid growth prospects for ship orders, buffeted by the global financial crisis.

China’s Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group raised US$1.8 billion (S$2.2 billion) through an IPO in Hong Kong in November last year.

The size of the Dalian shipyard IPO, which is likely to be in Hong Kong, is expected to be around the same as Rongsheng’s offering, the spokesman said.