Lone Star's sale of KEB stake nears

The fund dismissed reports that the $4bln stake sale has hit a snag behind price gaps.

Lone Star Funds, the biggest shareholder of Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), is working toward closing differences with bidders to sell a controlling stake in the fifth-largest lender in South Korea, the bank's chief said Friday.

The U.S. private equity fund has been pushing to sell its 51.02 percent stake. Australia-based Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ), the only known bidder, has openly sought to take over the interest worth about 4.4 trillion won (US$4 billion).

"We continue to be in contact with bidders and shareholders and the process (to sell the interest) is still going," Richard Wacker, KEB's chairman and chief executive officer, told reporters on the sidelines of a local forum.

The chairman dismissed as "just speculation" market rumors that the stake sale has hit a snag due to price gaps.

"It is normal that in any process there will be some gaps ... but they will work to close the gap," Wacker said. "I hope whatever gap that might exist will close."

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