STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, once one of the world’s largest shipbuilders, has rebranded as K Shipbuilding after the yard was finally sold by state creditors.

South Korean private equity funds KH Investment and United Asset Management Company (UAMCO) have paid KRW250bn ($217.2m) to take the yard private, after eight years of the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) looking after the facility.

Founded in 1976, the company was originally called Ssangyong Heavy Industries before being taken over by a local tycoon, Kang Duk-soo, who went on to build a massive maritime empire before a severe financial crisis engulfed the conglomerate, requiring urgent state support to stay afloat.

Over the past year K Shipbuilding has received a series of product tanker orders, helping stave off an imminent orderbook collapse.