(16 November 2010 – Asia) Australia and New Zealand Banking Group’s (ANZ) due diligence for the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) could be rendered useless, as reports circulate that Loan Star Funds have sold their 51 percent stake in the institution to South Korea’s fourth-largest banking group, Hana Financial.Hana Financial Group’s chief executive and president Kim Yong-Yeol confirmed when speaking to Yonhap news agency that the bank had been in talks with Loan Star Funds to buy KEB.
‘We will make a final decision on whether to take over the bank sometime next week,” Mr Yong-Yeol said.
Original reports surfaced from the Wall Street Journal, saying that Loan Star Funds has already reached an agreement to sell its stake in KEB to Hana Financial in a surprise deal that would require regulatory approval.
Earlier in the year ANZ announced it would be conducting due diligence for the controlling stake in KEB as part of the bank’s Asian strategy.
Lone Star’s stake is valued at about A$3.87 billion, based on KEB’s latest share price.
The Wall Street Journal quoted a person close to the deals as saying that Hana would most likely pay a premium of 10 percent or more than the current market value.