("Kookmin Bank Plans Up To US$240 Mln Rights Issue-Sources"
published at 11:19 GMT misstated the value of the rights issue in
the headline and first paragraph. The error was also in the
original story timed at 10:06 GMT. The correct version
follows:)
(Adds bond sale plan, Tier 1 ratio of Kookmin and its
peers.)
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
South Korea's Kookmin Bank plans to raise KRW2 trillion-KRW3
trillion (US$1.6 billion-US$2.4 billion) in a rights issue and has
mandated six banks to underwrite the deal, people familiar with the
situation said Thursday.
South Korea's largest bank by assets hired Citigroup Inc. (C),
Credit Suisse Group (CS), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Bank
of America-Merrill Lynch and two local banks to handle the deal,
they said.
The timing of the rights issue hasn't been finalized, they
added.
Kookmin Bank, which had just raised US$1 billion in a covered
bond issue in May, is also looking to raise as much as US$500
million from a U.S. dollar-denominated bond sale this month, people
familiar with the matter said earlier this month. It has mandated
Citigroup, HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC), Barclays PLC (BARC.LN), BNP
Paribas S.A. (BNP), and J.P. Morgan for the sale, they said.
Kookmin's planned rights issue followed Shinhan Financial Group
Co.'s (055550.SE) US$940.9 million offering in March.
As its larger peers raise funds, another major South Korean
bank, Woori Bank, is under pressure to replenish its capital,
analysts said.
Woori, a unit of Woori Finance Holdings Co. (053000.SE), has a
Tier 1 ratio of 8.7%, while Kookmin's stands at 10.3% and Shinhan's
at 10.1%.
-By Amy Or, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2832 2335;
amy.or@dowjones.com