The Financial Services Commission (FSC) had been expected to determine next week whether the U.S.-based buyout fund‘s holding of a 51.02 percent stake in KEB since 2003 is legitimate in accordance with a local bank law.
According to the report, the latest postponement came after the FSC initially delayed making its decision on March 15 due to legal controversies arising from a court ruling to convict a former head of Lone Star’s domestic unit.
At this moment, it is difficult to make any final decision,” FSC Vice Chairman Shin Je-yoon said in a press briefing, without disclosing how long the decision will be delayed. “We will take more time watching juridical outcomes,” Shin told the news agency.
Shin‘s comments reflect the March ruling of the Supreme Court that overturned a lower court’s not-guilty decision and sent back the case for a retrial on Yoo Hoi-won, who was accused of issuing a false capital reduction plan to drive down stock prices of KEB‘s credit card unit.
Lone Star later took over the credit card unit on the cheap in 2003 and integrated it into KEB, which it previously bought in the same year.
The latest delay, meanwhile, deals a heavy blow to Hana Financial’s November deal with Lone Star to take over the controlling stake, since the eligibility winning is a critical prerequisite for the execution of the deal. Hana Financial has raised enough funds to pay the 4.69 trillion won (US$4.3 billion) purchase money and awaits only regulatory permission to consolidate KEB before their deal expires on May 24, the news said.
(아주경제 송지영 기자)
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