Mirae Asset, Daewoo securities to merge

Mirae Asset Financial Group will merge its two brokerage units – Mirae Asset Securities and Mirae Asset Daewoo Securities -- in November, the group announced Friday.

The planned merger, widely expected after the group’s acquisition last year of Mirae Asset Daewoo, formerly KDB Daewoo, will create a titanic new leader with nearly 8 trillion of total assets in Korea’s fragmented securities sector. 

“Mirae Asset Daewoo will merge Mirae Asset Securities to raise management efficiency and create synergy,” Mirae Asset Daewoo said in a regulatory filing in Seoul.

The merger will take place on Nov. 1 with a ratio of 1:2.97 based on the two’s stock price at Friday’s close. New shares will launch on the bourse on Nov. 28. The plan is subject to final endorsement by shareholders of the companies at their respective meeting on Oct. 20.

“Mirae Asset Daewoo will survive, while Mirae Asset Securities will be dissolved after the merger,” the group’s spokesperson explained. “For Mirae Asset, this is not just a merger of two units. It is the launch of a new investment bank,” he said.

The group, headed by the iconic, self-made financier Park Hyeon-joo, aims to grow into a regional player in the investment banking field. The 2.3 trillion won buy of Daewoo Securities was a step toward that direction, the group‘s founder and current chairman Park said.

According to the group, Park himself will lead the integration process. He assumed the chairmanship of Mirae Asset Daewoo on Friday.


By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)