The state-funded Woori Financial Group will convene a board of directors’ meeting on Wednesday to support policymakers’ plan to sell Woori Investment & Securities.
After the board meeting, the nation’s largest financial group ― which holds a 38.85 percent stake in Woori Investment ― is scheduled to make an official announcement in August on the sale of the stock brokerage unit.
Though the government has the authority to sell Woori Bank and provincial lenders, the brokerage unit sale is to be initiated by the group.
Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers and Citi Global Market Securities will act as the sale brokers for Woori Investment, according to Woori officials. While Samil will also take on accounting advisory services, Lee & Ko plans to offer legal services.
Policymakers are striving to attract many potential bidders for Woori Investment in a bid to maximize the retrieval of taxpayers’ money, which was injected into the group in the wake of the 1997 Asian foreign exchange crisis.
However, Woori Investment is currently drawing little interest in the market.
Only two in the financial industry ― KB Financial Group and NongHyup Financial Group ― have expressed interest in the Woori brokerage firm.
Though Hyundai Motor Group’s HMC Investment Securities had also been rumored to participate in the coming bid for Woori Investment, a spokesman for the automotive group dismissed its feasibility on Tuesday.
Citing the management’s internal stance, the spokesman said that Hyundai Motor “was not considering bids for Woori Investment.” He also downplayed the possibility that the group’s position would be swayed by future circumstances.
Some market insiders, however, still do not rule out the possibility, reiterating that Hyundai Motor Group would continue to bolster its financial businesses.
Hyundai Motor, which operates competitive units in sectors such as credit cards, installment financing and nonlife insurance, acquired Green Cross Life Insurance in 2011.
By Kim Yon-se (
kys@heraldcorp.com)
