Sale of WooriBank
The Korean government, which has owned WooriBank for 14 years, is selling its shares to multiple major shareholders. Specifically, 30 percent to 40 percent of the shares are planned to be sold to a couple of investors, and the rest of its 56.97 percent of shares will be disposed of on a block basis.
The buyers to own 10 percent or more shares are subject to limited competitive bidding, which allows only those qualified entities to participate in the bidding. The purpose is to let buyers who can really contribute to the growth of the bank have the shares and add some premium to the share ownership.
According to the financial authorities, the Public Fund Oversight Committee is planning to launch an in-depth demand survey next month before selecting strategic and financial investors. Its goal is to reduce the government’s shares in the bank, while maximizing the amount of the public fund to be recovered.
“Competitive bidding will be adopted if there are two or more entities desiring to acquire 50 percent or more shares, but, otherwise, those to buy at least 10 percent of the shares will be competing as strategic investors,” said a high-ranking official of the government, adding, “The fact that the government is the only major shareholder having that percentage should not be overlooked, and only well-intentioned major stockholders will be allowed to vie for the solid growth of WooriBank.”