S. Korea Decision on KEB Stake Sale unlikely in Apr

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission likely won’t be able to rule on a key legal issue surrounding Hana Financial Group’s bid for a 51 percent in Korea Exchange Bank worth of 4.69 trillion won ($4.34 billion) this month, Yonhap infomax news agency reported Monday.

The report said the FSC hasn’t completed it legal review on whether U.S.-based Lone Star Funds, the seller of the KEB shares to Hana, is fit to be KEB’s largest shareholder.

The review was triggered by an ongoing court case over whether the private equity fund manipulated the stock price of KEB’s credit unit when Lone Star merged the then-listed unit with KEB, Market Watch reported quoting the agency’s reports.

Yonhap said it’s unclear when the ruling on Lone Star’s standing may come, though one of the unnamed sources indicated that the decision may come in May. The regulator has said it will first decide on the Lone Star issue before it considers whether to approve Hana’s acquisition of the KEB stake.

(아주경제 송지영 기자)

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com