[Courtesy of Woori Bank]
South Korea will try to sell a 30 percent stake in Woori Bank by the end of this year in its fifth attempt to privatize the lender which was bailed out with taxpayer's money during a financial crisis two decades ago, financial authorities said Monday.
Woori, the country's fourth-largest lender by asset, was bailed out with an injection of 12.8 trillion won (11.3 billion US dollars) in state money during the 1998-99 Asian financial crisis that forced a sweeping consolidation of South Korean financial institutions.
As a result, the government held a 51-percent stake in the bank through the state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. (KDIC). So far, some 8.2 trillion won has been retrieved.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said KDIC would sell a 30 percent stake in Woori to multiple domestic and international suitors. The stake is worth about 2.07 trillion won. An investor will be allowed to acquire 4-8 percent.
The watchdog plans to receive letters of intent from bidders by around September 23 and select winners in November. In four previous attempts, Woori has failed to attract sufficient interest from bidders because of the government's efforts to sell the whole stake.
Woori's second-quarter net profit soared 35.8 percent on-year to 307 billion won as the lender improved its financial health by reducing non-performing assets. Its ratio of loan loss provisions has also increased to 140 percent at the end of June.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
