A consortium led by South Korea’s Eugene Group has been named as the preferred bidder for Hyundai Savings Bank Co., a subsidiary of KB Securities Co. that has been out put up for grabs since last year.

KB Securities Co., a brokerage unit of KB Financial Group Inc., said in a regulatory filing on Friday that it held a board meeting on Friday and selected Eugene Group consortium as the preferred buyer of Hyundai Savings Bank. The consortium was favored among other final bidders as it presented better price and non-price options, it added. Eugene Group competed with a foreign private equity fund that also took part in the final bid.

Hyundai Savings Bank is the country’s 8th largest savings bank based on asset volume of 1.7 trillion won ($1.5 billion) as of end of last year. Its book value is estimated at 250 billion won.

The consortium led by Eugene Group has reportedly offered a bidding price of some 200 billion won.

KB Securities said that the consortium was the most eligible as the potential buyer of Hyundai Savings Bank as it met various conditions such as purchasing price, fund-raising plan, and internal review to be approved by shareholders. The brokerage firm added that it will sign a stock purchase agreement with the consortium soon and aim to complete the sale this year.

Hyundai Savings Bank, former subsidiary of Hyundai Securities Co., became part of KB Financial Group when it acquired the brokerage firm. KB Financial Group put up Hyundai Savings Bank for sale in September last year as part of efforts to streamline overlapping businesses.

By Chun Gyung-woon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]