Eighteen parties show interest in buying Woori Bank stakes -KDIC

Korea Investment Holdings Co

23/09/2016 11:10

SEOUL, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Eighteen parties have submitted 
letters of intent to buy minority stakes in Woori Bank 
 000030.KS , South Korea's fourth-largest bank by assets, the 
bank's controlling shareholder said on Friday, without naming 
the parties. 
    Tongyang Life Insurance  082640.KS , owned by China's Anbang 
Insurance Group, said it has submitted a letter of intent for 
the Woori stake. 
    State-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corp said it plans to 
shortlist bidders next week, with main bidding due in November. 
    South Korea plans to sell by the end of this year about a 30 
percent stake in total in Woori Bank, broken into a series of 
minority stakes ranging in size from 4 to 8 percent. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS6N17L01R 
    The move could recoup 2.3 trillion won ($2.09 billion) of 
taxpayer money the government spent bailing out the bank nearly 
two decades ago, having tried and failed to sell a majority 
stake four times since 2010.   
    South Korean brokerages Korea Investment & Securities, 
Kiwoom Securities  039490.KS  and Hanwha Life Insurance 
 088350.KS  submitted initial bids.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nS6N17L03T 
    Money Today reported that private equity firms were among 
initial bidders. ($1 = 1,102.6500 won) 
 
 (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Joyce Lee; Additional reporting 
by Changho Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) 
 ((jungyoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5609; Reuters 
Messaging: jungyoon.lee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: WOORI BANK SALE/