KDB sole potential buyer of Woori’s 57% stake

South Korea raises minimum stake purchase threshold to 30% as it resumes Woori’s $6bn stake sale.

South Korea said on Tuesday it would resume the sale of its 57 percent stake in Woori Finance Holdings, worth around $6 billion, five months after an earlier auction failed due to a lack of interest.

But the outlook for the country's biggest banking privatisation is uncertain as the government has sharply raised the minimum stake buying threshold at a time when there is no strong investor interest and a rival $4.1 billion buy of Korea Exchange Bank by Hana Financial Group is at risk of collapse due to regulatory hurdles.

Bidders are required to buy at least 30 percent of the country's biggest financial group by assets, or to seek a merger with the firm, and must submit their initial buying interest by June 29, the Financial Services Commission said in a statement.

The minimum stake requirement was raised from 4 percent in the previous failed auction.

The government is considering easing financial regulations to encourage more bidders, as state-run KDB Financial Group is the only investor which has expressed interest in Woori so far.

Min Sang-kee, co-chairperson of the Public Fund Oversight Committee, told a news briefing that they would not rush on the Woori stake sale.

View the full story in Reuters.