The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are planning to join private equity firm MBK Partners in a bid for South Korea’s Woori Finance Holdings Co. Ltd., reports Reuters.
Yoon Jong-ha, partner and head of MBK’s Korean operations, has said MBK had completed fundraising and would submit a preliminary bid by Wednesday’s deadline.
However, recent plunges on world stock markets have left the South Korean government’s Woori stake auction in doubt, as the two other potential buyers―private equity firms Tstone and Vogo Fund―have yet to decide whether to bid. The stake is estimated at up to US$6 billion.
Woori shares have recently fallen to the lowest level in nearly two years as stock markets sank on fears of weak global growth.
The three firms have been given a minimum requirement to buy a 30% Woori stake from the government’s total 57% stake being auctioned.