S. Korea sells 7 pct stake in Woori Finance

SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's state-run deposit insurance agency on
Tuesday sold its 7 percent stake in Woori Finance Holdings Co. worth of 866
billion won (US$750.5 million) through a block sale, a move to retrieve public
funds injected into Woori and step up efforts to privatize it, the agency said.
The Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. (KDIC) said it unloaded 56.4 million shares for
15,350 won per share via block trade before the market opened. The offered price
is a 4.36 percent discount to Monday's closing share price.
The stake sale lowered the KDIC's holdings in Woori Finance to 66 percent from 73
percent.
Excluding a controlling 50 percent stake plus one share, the KDIC is looking at
market conditions to sell the remaining holdings in the financial firm through
block trade.
"The stake sale would help recoup public funds and indicates the government's
commitment to privatize Woori Finance as early as possible," the KDIC said in a
statement.
The global financial meltdown has thwarted the government's attempts to sell
South Korea's No. 2 financial services company, into which it injected 12.8
trillion won in public funds to save it from near-bankruptcy in the aftermath of
the 1997-98 Asian financial meltdown.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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