The creditors of Kumho Tire, South Korea’s second-largest tire firm, announced Friday they will hold off making a decision on a preferred bidder for the tire maker until early next week.

Nine creditors including Korea Development Bank, Woori Bank and Kookmin Bank were scheduled to announce a preferential bidder by Friday afternoon.

However, deal adviser Credit Suisse requested more time to review nonprofit aspects of the bidders, such as future business plans, KDB bank said.

Three China-based companies -- tire maker Qingdao Doublestar, chemicals firm Jiangsu GPRO Group, aircraft component maker Shanghai Aerospace Industry -- are in competition to acquire 42.01 percent of Kumho Tire’s shares.

Experts said the stake up for sale is expected to be valued at around 1 trillion won ($847 million), including the management premium.

Among the three bidders, Shanghai Aerospace Industry has been in the spotlight, as it reportedly pitched the highest bid of about 1 trillion won, according to news reports.

Kumho Tire is an affiliate of Korean conglomerate Kumho Asiana Group and accounts for 30 percent of the group’s sales. It is also the 13th biggest tire maker on a global scale.

Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo is highly likely to join the bid.

“I will complete the last task of buying back Kumho Tire from creditors to rebuild the group,” Park said in his New Year’s address.

Once a winning bidder is selected, all eyes will be on Park, who will have a month to inform creditors whether he will pitch a higher offer.

If Park decides to pay more, he has to pay the deposit and submit a fundraising plan within 45 days.

If he fails to collect enough capital or backs off, acquisition rights will be given to the preferred Chinese firm.

Two affiliates of Kumho Asiana Group -- Kumho Industries and Kumho Tire -- were put under a workout program led by creditors in 2009, due to a liquidity crunch.

The group bought back management rights of Kumho Industries in September 2015 at 722.8 billion won. The acquisition left the company’s chairman in debt, as he invested 120 billion won and borrowed 600 billion won.

Analysts said Park will most likely create a special purpose company, in which he will have full shares.

Kumho Tire on Friday recorded 9,240 won per share on the Korean bourse, up 5.36 percent from the day before, on high market expectations of the acquisition.

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)