Korea's pension keen on joining KEB, Woori deals

Lender's chair said South Korea’s pension service is eager enter transactions profiting the agency.

South Korea's National Pension Service (NPS) is likely to participate in acquisitions of Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) and Woori Finance Holdings as a financial investor, Yonhap reported on Tuesday.

Jun Kwang-woo, chairman of the state pension fund with 290 trillion won ($263 billion) in assets, told reporters during his U.S. trip that the pension service would join the deals if those investments were considered profitable.

South Korea's banking industry is set to see a major consolidation this year with the upcoming sale of KEB, the country's No. 6 lender, and the planned privatisation of third-ranked Woori.

U.S. equity fund Lone Star has offered to sell its $4 billion controlling stake in KEB, and foreign players including Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and HSBC are interested, according to banking sources.

View the full story in Reuters.