Buyout firm among bidders for Korea's Woori Bank
The South Korean government has narrowed the field of potential bidders in the $6 billion privatization of Woori Finance Holdings to four, including one buyout fund, according to a government spokesperson.
There are no clear indications yet to the identify of the private equity bidder, but earlier reports linked the Blackstone Group with the auction, purportedly following a direct approach by Woori CEO Lee Pal-seung to Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman. South Korea's biggest LP at $258 billion, the National Pension Service, has said it may also consider partnering with Hana Financial Group or other partners to buy the asset. The government is seeking to sell off its 57% stake in the bank, Korea's third-largest lender with a $10.6 billion market cap. JPMorgan Chase, Samsung Securities and Daewoo Securities are acting as agents for the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. in the sale.
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