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The world¡¯s second largest banking group HSBC has signed a deal to buy Korea Exchange Bank from the offshore private equity fund Lone Star. HSBC Holdings will buy Lone Star¡¯s 51.02 percent stake in the Korean bank for US$6.3 billion -- W18,045 (US$1=W937) per share plus a 21.5 percent premium on the managerial right.
But Korea¡¯s regulator, the Financial Supervisory Commission, on Monday confirmed it will not approve the sale before a court rules on alleged irregularities in Lone Star¡¯s original 2003 purchase of KEB at a bargain basement price. It remains to be seen whether the deal can go through. The London-based financial giant reached the takeover agreement with Lone Star on condition that the deal is deemed complete only after Korean authorities approve it. HSBC has some 10,000 branches in 83 countries around the world with W2,042 trillion in assets. It also has Korean operations.
Before the nod went to HSBC, Kookmin Bank, the Hana Financial Group, the National Agricultural Cooperatives Federation and the Development Bank of Singapore had eyed the Korean bank.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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