[THE INVESTOR] The sale of state-owned Woori Bank has drawn offers from more than 10 preliminary bidders mainly from local financial firms, relieving the government that has been seeking to privatize the bank for the past seven years.

Those who submitted letters by Sept. 23’s deadline included Hanwha Life Insurance, Korea Investment & Securities as well as private equity firms like IMM PE, H&Q Korea and Vogo Fund.

To buy splinter stakes to become one of the oligopolistic stakeholders of the bank, some foreign investors have also shown interest in the bank, including China’s Anbang Insurance Group, Japan-based Orix and Luxembourg CVC Capital Partners. 




The government plans to open the final round of the bid in November and close the deal in December after due diligence period.

In August, the Financial Services Commission’s Public Fund Management Committee announced its fifth plan to sell about 30 percent out of a 48.09 percent stake in the bank held by the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. to multiple investors, splitting the shares into 4 to 8 percent chunks. The committee expected a minimum of four investors bidding for the 8 percent stake.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)