ID :
59270
Wed, 05/06/2009 - 17:54
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/59270
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KDB interested in buying local lender: official
SEOUL, May 6 (Yonhap) -- The state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) may seek to
take over a local commercial lender in order to gain retail banking business
prior to a planned privatization, a ranking bank official said Wednesday.
The government is pushing to privatize KDB by 2012 and start reducing its 100
percent stake from next year. The policy bank, established in 1954, engages
mainly in providing local companies with loans for capital spending.
"In order to boost our value before the privatization, we need to acquire a
commercial lender," said the official asking not to be named. As a policy-lending
service would be transferred to an entity to be set up later, KDB needs a new
revenue source, he said.
According to the official, KDB is interested in buying the Korea Exchange Bank
(KEB) controlled by U.S.-based buyout fund Lone Star Funds., he said.
KDB is also setting its sights on Citibank Korea Inc., the local unit of Citibank
Inc. which is currently facing difficulty in the wake of the collapse of the U.S.
housing market, he added.
The government plans to set up a holding company for KDB and its affiliates in
September this year, a step closer toward the privatization of the lender.
Last week, the National Assembly passed a bill on KDB privatization.
Lone Star is seeking to sell a controlling stake in KEB, the country's
fifth-largest lender, after HSBC Holdings Plc terminated a deal to buy a
51.02-percent stake in the lender in September last year.
In August 2003, Lone Star took over KEB for US$1.5 billion.
sam@yna.co.kr
(END)
take over a local commercial lender in order to gain retail banking business
prior to a planned privatization, a ranking bank official said Wednesday.
The government is pushing to privatize KDB by 2012 and start reducing its 100
percent stake from next year. The policy bank, established in 1954, engages
mainly in providing local companies with loans for capital spending.
"In order to boost our value before the privatization, we need to acquire a
commercial lender," said the official asking not to be named. As a policy-lending
service would be transferred to an entity to be set up later, KDB needs a new
revenue source, he said.
According to the official, KDB is interested in buying the Korea Exchange Bank
(KEB) controlled by U.S.-based buyout fund Lone Star Funds., he said.
KDB is also setting its sights on Citibank Korea Inc., the local unit of Citibank
Inc. which is currently facing difficulty in the wake of the collapse of the U.S.
housing market, he added.
The government plans to set up a holding company for KDB and its affiliates in
September this year, a step closer toward the privatization of the lender.
Last week, the National Assembly passed a bill on KDB privatization.
Lone Star is seeking to sell a controlling stake in KEB, the country's
fifth-largest lender, after HSBC Holdings Plc terminated a deal to buy a
51.02-percent stake in the lender in September last year.
In August 2003, Lone Star took over KEB for US$1.5 billion.
sam@yna.co.kr
(END)