(LEAD) KDIC to sell part of its stake in Woori Finance via block trade

(ATTN: RECASTS lead; ADD more details from para 4)
SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's state-run deposit insurance agency plans
to sell part of its stake in Woori Finance Holdings Co. through block trade,
financial sources said Monday, a move to accelerate the privatization of the
financial firm.

The Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. (KDIC), which holds a 73 percent stake in Woori
Finance, is expected to unload about 4 percent of its shares at 15,350 won
(US$13.3) apiece via block trade on Tuesday before the market opens, according to
financial sources. The offered price is a 4.4 percent discount from Monday's
closing price.
Excluding a controlling 50 percent stake plus one share, the KDIC is looking at
market conditions to sell its 23 percent interest in the financial firm through
block trade. The government plans to sell its 7 percent holding within this year.
The global financial meltdown has thwarted the government's attempts to sell
South Korea's No. 2 financial services company, into which it injected 12.7
trillion won in public funds to save it from near-bankruptcy in the aftermath of
the 1997-98 Asian financial meltdown.
In the midst of last year's global financial turmoil, shares of Woori Finance
tumbled below 5,000 won at one point. Signs of an economic recovery and rising
share prices have prompted the government to weigh the timing of the stake sale,
market watchers say.
But the offered price remains below the estimated minimum price of 16,355 won a
share, at which the government could retrieve its public funds.
The planned block trade is widely expected to trigger a wave of takeover moves in
the local banking sector. The government is seeking to privatize state-run
financial firms -- Woori Finance, Korea Development Bank and the Industrial Bank
of Korea -- in a bid to beef up the financial sector's competitive edge.
Woori Finance's third-quarter net profit more than tripled to 483.9 billion won
on increased interest income and smaller loan-loss provisions.
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