SEOUL, Sept 9 - A top shareholder in Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co Ltd <042660.KS> said Tuesday it had received four preliminary bids for a majority stake in the world's No. 3 shipbuilder.

According to Korea Development Bank (KDB) steelmaker POSCO <005490.KS> and three other companies that had handed in letters of intent on Aug 27 to buy the stake submitted bids, with no new surprise entrants.

World No. 4 steelmaker POSCO and smaller players GS Group and Hanhwa Group all said they had filed preliminary bids but declined to provide further details.

Top shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries <009540.KS> also turned in a preliminary bid, a Hyundai spokesman said, adding that Hyundai would go it alone in its attempt to win Daewoo, without forming a consortium.

State-owned Korea Development Bank (KDB) and a government agency have put up for sale their combined 50.4 percent stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding, in a deal expected to bring in more than double the current market price due to heated competition and a lack of adequate targets.

KDB plans to select the companies eligible to make final bids and notify them on Thursday or Friday.

Final bids will be received in October, before a preferred buyer is picked the same month, KDB had said.

Meanwhile, SK Group is still considering joining a consortium with POSCO to bid for Daewoo as proposed by the steelmaker, a spokeswoman at affiliate SK Energy <096770.KS> said.

STX Group, which runs STX Shipbuilding Co <067250.KS>, has also voiced its willingness to enter the deal as a consortium member if approached by suitors. The group's vice chairman had told local reporters that STX could pump as much 300 billion won into the purchase.

The deal has drawn heavy attention from both domestic and foreign investors. Although foreign buyers were intially excluded from bidding due to Daewoo's involvement in the defence industry, the head of the country's financial regulator said on Monday they would be allowed to take a stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding and other domestic firms to be put up for sale by creditor banks and the government.

The sale will likely generate substantial advisory fee income for global bankers such as Merrill Lynch <MER.N> and Morgan Stanley <MS.N>, as the bidding groups move aggressively to win Daewoo at a time when the global flow of M&A has been slowing.

The successful buyer could secure a new growth engine from the lucrative energy-related business and strong cash flows of the shipbuilder.

Despite expectations of a hefty M&A premium, some investors are waiting for the first inkling of actual bidding prices.

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