Korea Development Bank, the state owned financial institution based in Seoul, may acquire the 35.9% stake in STX Pan Ocean that the STX Business Group had attempted to sell earlier this spring, the Wall Street Journal reports on its website.

“Korea Development Bank’s private equity team has hired advisors to review the possible acquisition of STX Pan Ocean following STX Group’s request,” STX Pan Ocean said in a late-Monday filing to the Korea Exchange.

The move would be part of attempts by the STX Business Group to restore its financial health that has suffered from weakness in both shipping and shipbuilding markets. Last week, STX Shipbuilding & Offshore, which owns STX Europe that controls STX France and STX Finland cruise ship builders, asked its creditors to renegotiate their loan agreements with the company.

 STX Pan Ocean is a bulk shipping company.

“Analysts widely see the sale to KDB as inevitable. The state-owned policy bank and other creditors lent $10 billion to the shipping, shipbuilding-to-construction and energy conglomerate. But profitability has worsened, and the risk of creditors writing down debt is rising,” the Wall Street Journal reported.