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(LEAD) Sales bid for Woori Bank fails due to lack of bidders

All News 19:01 November 28, 2014

(ATTN: ADDS details from 2nd para)

SEOUL, Nov. 28 (Yonhap) -- An auction to sell state-run Woori Bank failed on Friday due to a lack of bidders, the financial regulator said, the fourth such failed attempt by the government to privatize South Korea's No. 3 bank.

"After closing the bid for Woori Bank's managerial rights, only China's Anbang Property & Casualty Insurance Co. applied for it," said the Financial Services Commission (FSC).

At least two bidders are needed to make the auction valid, according to local laws.

Anbang Insurance is a leading Chinese insurer, with assets of 121 trillion won (US$109.3 billion).

The Chinese firm bought the Waldorf Astoria New York hotel for $1.95 billion earlier this year.

Kyobo Life Insurance Co., South Korea's third-biggest life insurer by assets, had expressed its interest in buying the bank, but did not submit a bid.

"We decided to hold back a plan to bid for a controlling stake in Woori Bank due to some problems raised by our investors and consultants," the South Korean insurer said in a statement released minutes before the bid closure.

The South Korean government has tried to privatize Woori Bank and its affiliates since 2010 to recoup some 13 trillion won (US$12.2 billion) in bailout money invested in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

After the three previous attempts to sell the bank during the Lee Myung-bak administration failed, the FSC came up with a new sales plan.

Under the plan, of the nearly 57 percent stake held by the state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. (KDIC), a controlling 30 percent would go to a single buyer, with the remaining 27 percent to be sold to multiple investors.

According to the KDIC, the auction for the minority stake attracted 1.32-fold more applicants than needed, and the winners will be disclosed on Thursday.

brk@yna.co.kr
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