“KB Financial has been chosen as the preferred bidder,” accounting firm EY Han Young said in a statement.
KB may have offered close to 1 trillion won for a combined 22.56 percent stake in the brokerage house, valued at around 340 billion won ($273.4 million) based on Thursday’s stock price of 6,875 won apiece.
Hyundai Group is selling its stake -- owned by cash-strapped Hyundai Merchant Marine and the group’s owner family.
 |
| KB Financial Group. Yonhap |
KB Financial’s contenders in the final round of bidding were Korea Investment Holdings and Hong Kong-based private equity firm Actis.
KB, which derives about 63 percent of its profits from KB Kookmin Bank, has been seeking to strengthen its brokerage business through M&As as lending margins plunge. Last year, it lost out to Mirae Asset Financial in the takeover race for the industry’s second-ranked KDB Daewoo Securities. KB owns its own brokerage, which has only a miniscule presence in the industry.
Hyundai Securities is ranked fourth by assets -- of around 3 trillion won.
The stake sale is part of Hyundai Group’s plan to salvage its flagship Hyundai Merchant Marine, which recently entered into a debt settlement agreement with creditors. The group has promised its creditors to complete the deal by June.
By Lee Sun-young
(milaya@heraldcorp.com)