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Lone Star voices commitment to selling KEB to HSBC
SEOUL, July 17 (Yonhap) -- U.S. buyout fund Lone Star Funds said Thursday it is committed to selling its stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) to HSBC Holdings Plc, dismissing a report that Kookmin Bank is seeking to buy KEB if the deal with HSBC falters.
"Lone Star Funds has an exclusive contract with HSBC and has held no discussions with any other parties with regard to the sale of its shares of KEB. We remain committed to our agreement with HSBC," Lone Star said in a statement.
The statement came as a local newspaper reported that South Korea's top lender Kookmin Bank has contacted Lone Star in a bid to buy KEB and is considering a public tender offer if the deal with HSBC breaks down.
In April, British banking giant HSBC agreed with Lone Star to extend a deadline to buy KEB by three months until the end of July. But South Korea's financial regulator has yet to give the US$6.3 billion deal the thumbs-up, pending a court battle over Lone Star's takeover of KEB in 2003.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said it will continue to delay giving its approval for the KEB takeover until all legal uncertainty clears up.
Market watchers said the delay of regulatory approval may lead HSBC to walk away from the deal. They said if the deal falters, Lone Star may unload its stake in KEB through a block sale which does not require approval by the regulator.
Meanwhile, Kim Kwang-soo, an official at the FSC, told reporters that there have not been any kind of consultations between Kookmin Bank and the regulator concerning a possible tender offer for buying KEB.
Kookmin Bank repeatedly showed its interest in acquiring KEB, after Lone Star Funds in November 2006 scrapped a deal to sell its entire stake to Kookmin Bank amid legal limbo related to its purchase of KEB in 2003.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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