KB Financial to divest 11.2% stake by September

3 to 4 per cent stake to be sold to foreign investors through a block sale and the remaining shares to three to four foreign institutional investors.

South Korea's KB Financial Group Inc. will sell an 11.2 per cent stake held by its bank unit to a group of foreign investors and non-financial conglomerates by September, the group's chairman said Wednesday.

The group's flagship bank unit, Kookmin Bank, owns an 11.2 per cent stake in the parent group, which was created in September 2008 when the lender provided its stake to the holding company. Kookmin Bank is required to sell off its entire share in the parent group by a September deadline.

"The group plans to transfer the share to foreign investors through a block sale and a club deal in which several investors pool funds for collective investment," KB Financial chairman Euh Yoon-dae said in an interview with Yonhap News.

"Some of the interest will be given to a couple of local non-financial companies in exchange for shares in their own companies."

About a 3 to 4 per cent stake will be sold to foreign investors through a block sale, and a club deal is being considered to sell remaining shares to three to four foreign institutional investors, the chairman said.

"KB Financial has also finalized stock exchange agreements with one or two local conglomerates, and POSCO's holdings in KB Financial may rise up to 4 per cent (from the current 3.3 per cent) following a transaction," Euh said.

View the full story in Trading Markets.