(South Korea) – JPMorgan Chase & Co and US investment fund Lone Star are reportedly bidding for South Korea’s Seoulbank jointly with Hana Bank.Hana Bank and two other foreign investors had been selected as negotiating partners to take over the nationalised lender, a consortium which has clearly now moved forward with reports of a 100 percent acquisition without any put-back option.
A three-week due diligence process is underway, with final bids to be tabled by the end of July through lead managers for the sale – Goldman Sachs and Samsung Securities.