A consortium led by Hyundai Development Company has been selected as the preferred bidder to acquire Asiana Airlines, South Korea's second-largest carrier.

The board of directors at Kumho Asiana Group, the parent of Asiana, on Tuesday selected the Hyundai Development Company-led consortium over another consortium led by Aekyung Group.

The winning consortium is reported to have made the highest bid, two-point-four to two-point-five trillion won, beating out the other two bidders that participated in the auction.

The Aekyung-led consortium bid around one-point-five trillion won, while Asiana's creditors didn't refer the third consortium led by the Korea Corporate Governance Improvement fund to the Transport Ministry for an eligibility review last week.

Kumho Asiana Group aims to sell its subsidiary Kumho Industrial's 31-percent stake in the airline, certain new shares to be issued by the airline and six affiliates as part of broad restructuring efforts.

Kumho plans to complete the sale of Asiana by the end of this year.