Troubled shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. has terminated its negotiation to sell off its headquarters building in downtown Seoul due to drawn-out procedures, industry sources said Friday.

In May, the shipbuilder picked a local property developer as the preferred bidder to sell its building, a deal estimated at some 180 billion won ($163 million).

The shipyard is currently in talks with other potential investors to complete the asset sale, which is part of its self-rescue package.

Earlier, loss-making Daewoo Shipbuilding mapped out self-rescue measures worth over 4 trillion won in total that include an employee wage cut and asset sales.

Last year, the shipyard also drew up a 1.85 trillion won self-rehabilitation plan in return for 4 trillion won in financial aid.

The measures include a cut of up to 20 percent in wages to its employees and a further reduction in the number of executives.

The shipyard has been also seeking to sell off more affiliates. Previously, Daewoo Shipbuilding planned to put non-core assets up for sale. Among others, its defense-related unit will be spun off, it said earlier.

So far, Daewoo Shipbuilding has raised 440 billion won by selling assets.

Other local rivals, such as Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., promised to implement stronger self-rescue schemes to stay afloat.

The country's top three shipyards suffered a combined operating loss of 8.5 trillion won last year due largely to increased costs stemming from a delay in the construction of offshore facilities and an industrywide slump.

But a huge chunk of the loss, some 5.5 trillion won, came from Daewoo Shipbuilding. (Yonhap)