Tax Raids Rattle Overseas Funds Tread Carefully with This Tax Probe Foreign Businesses Outraged by Tax Probe Lone Star Among Five Funds to Face Hefty Tax Bill Prosecutors Start Probe of Lone Star First Foreign Fund in Korea Slapped With Criminal Fine Treat All Capital the Same Time Running Out for Lone Star Lone Star in Fresh Criminal Probe Over KEB Buyout Singapore Dark Horse Enters KEB Bidding An Expensive Lesson from Lone Star Kookmin Bank to Buy KEB at Whopping Price Lone Star Raided in KEB Takeover Probe

Lone Star, the majority shareholder in KEB, has informed Kookmin Bank with conditions that the bank has been chosen as the preferred bidder, industry sources said. The sources said that gives KEB the option to posit several conditions. If Kookmin accepts them, it automatically advances to official preferred-bidder status. If it does not, Lone Star could choose from among other bidders including Hana Financial Group.

Lone Star has reportedly suggested that Kookmin pays a slightly higher price and deals with any tax problems later on. Kookmin Bank is reportedly carrying out last-minute reviews of additional conditions suggested by Lone Star and Lone Star vice chairman Ellis Short visited Korea on Wednesday afternoon.

There has been no comment on the asking price, but Bloomberg reports KEB will go for some US$6.2 billion (W6.2 trillion). That would net Lone Star, which took over KEB for W1.38 trillion in October 2003, some W4 trillion in profits a mere 30 months later.

Kookmin’s takeover of KEB will create another “superbank” with assets of more than W270 trillion, ranking among the world’s top 60 and dominating 33 percent of the domestic market in terms of deposits.

(englishnews@chosun.com )