Hyundai Securities may have to dispose of its stake in one of Korea’s first two Internet-only banks, if and when KB Financial Group acquires it as planned, a group official said Monday.
KB Financial has been chosen as the preferred bidder for a controlling 22.56 percent stake in Hyundai Securities and is now conducting due diligence on the firm.
Hyundai Securities holds a 10 percent stake in K-Bank, one of the two Internet banks that Korea’s financial authorities approved last year.
KB Financial has a business interest in Kakao Bank, the other bank to launch, through its banking arm KB Kookmin Bank -- which has a 10 percent stake in the envisioned entity, having joined the consortium led by the mobile app behemoth Kakao. Both K-Bank and Kakao Bank are scheduled to launch sometime this year.
According to the Financial Services Commission, there is no regulatory issue regarding the stakes, even if KB Kookmin and Hyundai Securities become affiliates under the same KB Financial umbrella.
Still, a KB Financial official said that KB would have Hyundai Securities pull out from K-Bank and fully commit to Kakao Bank, as the two new banks are sure to be rivals. “We can’t be involved on both sides,” the official said.
By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)