By Park Hyong-ki
Staff Reporter
Min Euoo-sung, CEO of Korea Development Bank (KDB), said the state-invested bank is considering forming a consortium with domestic private banks to acquire Lehman Brothers.
``We are discussing ways to form a consortium with domestic banks in a bid to take over Lehman Brothers,'' Min told reporters.
He added that doing so as a consortium will be much more effective in taking over the investment bank than KDB acting alone.
The chief executive, however, did not elaborate on details of which domestic private lenders will participate.
So far, Woori Financial and Hana Financial groups indicated that they have no interest in purchasing a majority stake in Lehman.
He also said that there was no conflict of interest with the government and the regulator over the matter.
``There is no disagreement with the government,'' said Min, adding that the issue has been settled with the authorities.
The Financial Services Commission earlier cautioned the state-run bank not to take on the risk of acquiring a subprime-stricken investment bank.
It said that private financial firms should perhaps take on the acquisition challenge rather than a public financial firm.
Despite the regulator's opposition, KDB has pushed forward and begun negotiations with the fourth-largest investment bank on Wall Street troubled by the credit crisis.
Reports say Lehman is aiming to raise $6 billion in negotiations with KDB in exchange for a majority of shares in the investment bank.
Regarding the ongoing negotiations, Min indicated that there were difficulties in narrowing their differences. He did not elaborate further.
KDB earlier noted that it aims to be a competitive global investment bank like Deutsche Bank by expanding through mergers and acquisitions of financial institutions at home and abroad.
The government is moving to privatize the state-run bank within three years. It plans to transform it into a holding company this year, and the begin privatization next year.
It will allow global financial firms to bid for shares of KDB.
phk@koreatimes.co.kr