8		Pantech merges affiliates, eyes W5tr sales in 2013 The Korea Herald - Business Oct. 16, 2009 (Fri) Pantech merges affiliates, eyes W5tr sales in 2013      Pantech Group, Korea's No. 3 handset maker, said yesterday that it plans to merge its two affiliates by the end of this year to achieve economies of scale and it aims to nearly double its sales to 5 trillion won in 2013. The group said it posted a ninth consecutive profit in the third quarter, reporting an operating profit of 41.8 billion won during the period. "We will become a global major company with 5 trillion won in sales in 2013 by rolling out differentiated and competitive mobile devices," the company said in a statement. Pantech expects to post 2.2 trillion of sales this year. The group said it has targeted 25 million unit shipments in 2013, nearly double 11 million units this year.     The handset vendor plans to launch an integrated entity "Pantech Corp." on Dec. 30 after gaining approval from Korea's financial regulator and the company's shareholders. "Pantech affiliates (Pantech Co. Ltd. and Pantech & Curitel Communications, Inc.) have so far acknowledged that a merger is needed to grow and compete with global firms," the group said in the statement.   "After a merger, Pantech subsidiaries expect to increase efficiency by more than 30 percent across the board by efficiently utilizing their resources and technology," it said. Pantech was once a star venture company, starting with six employees by current chairman Park Byeong-yeop in 1991 and successfully carving out a niche market in Korea, dominated by conglomerates Samsung and LG. It has also expanded overseas.   However, the company was hit by a liquidity crunch and started creditor-led restructuring in 2007. It is quickly recovering, and has reduced its debt by clinching a series of debt-to-equity swap deals under which the company traded a percentage of its debt for equity. In August, Qualcomm agreed to take $76.26 million worth of new shares in a debt-to-equity swap deal with Pantech, which made the U.S. chipmaker the No.2 shareholder.   Pantech said its third-quarter operating profit fell 26.1 percent to 41.8 billion won year-on-year, because of the rise in the Korean won and the global economic downturn. Its third-quarter shipments stood at 2.7 million units - 830,000 units in Korea and 1.8 million units overseas. Pantech's key markets include Korea, North America, Japan and Mexico.   By Jin Hyun-joo