South Korea's state-run KDB Financial Group Inc. said Thursday it has ended
receiving proposals from brokerages here and abroad in preparation for its
initial public offering (IPO), as the lender moves toward
privatization.
The financial group had received IPO proposals from 26
local and overseas brokerages as of Feb. 23, it said in a statement.
It now plans to draw up a shortlist of 15 bidders after conducting a review
based on the submitted documents. Those that make the list will be invited to a
presentation scheduled for next week, KDB said.
It plans to choose the
preferred bidder by early March.
The state-run financial firm has been
pushing to list its shares as part of plans to privatize the group. Under local
law, the government, which owns 100 percent of KDB Financial, has to sell its
stake no later than May 2014.
KDB Financial Group chairman Kang
Man-soo said Wednesday his company is fully committed to completing the
privatization process by the fourth quarter of this year.
Source Text