Korea First Bank Sold to New Bridge and GE Consortium
Korea First Bank was sold to the New Bridge Consortium which is composed of New Bridge (a major stockholder of America Bank) and GE Capital (a financial subsidiary of General Electric(GE)). The government announced on December 31 that it will sell Korea First Bank to New Bridge Consortium and exchanged a memorandum of understanding (MOU).The government explained that the consortium had presented more favourable conditions than Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation(HSBC) which was the frontrunner for Korea First Bank's acquistion.
The consortium will acquire 51 percent of Korea First Bank's equities. In return, the government will have to guarantee to resolve all outstanding debts which will occur within two years after the acquisition and decrease the bank's branches and employees by half.
New Bridge, meanwhile, is requesting that it acquire only superior assets without any of the more riskier assets the bank currently holds. This could create an obstacle but both sides have declared to settle this and any other details in meetings.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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