Woori bids for LG Securities

Woori bids for LG Securities

SEOUL: South Korea's second largest banking firm, Woori
Financial Group, on Monday confirmed it was bidding to take over
LG Investment and Securities Co. Ltd.

"Woori submitted an official letter of intent to take over LG
Investment and Securities on Friday," a Woori Bank official said
without elaborating.

State-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), which is in charge of
the open bidding, said it wants to receive concrete offers by
early May and wind up the deal by July. KDB refuses to elaborate
on bidders.

Some 10 foreign and domestic firms, including Woori, have
joined the open bidding for a 21.2 percent stake in LG Investment
and Securities, Yonhap news agency reported.

Woori chairman Hwang Young-Key, who took office last month,
has said he would push for acquiring other institutions to
bolster the group's non-banking business.

Woori is likely to be privatized, with the government
intending to sell its 87 percent stake which was secured after
injecting more than US$10 billion of public funds to restructure
the group. -- AFP