April 26, 2024
Stocks & Bonds
KDIC sells 2.75% stake in Hanwha Life
[THE INVESTOR] The state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. (KDIC) said on Aug. 17 that it sold a 2.75 percent stake in Hanwha Life Insurance as part of efforts to recoup taxpayer money injected into the insurer.
The stake, 23.9 million shares, was sold to domestic and foreign institutional investors through a block sale in after-hours trading for 173.9 billion won (US$153 million), or 7,280 won per share.
The state deposit insurer said the stake sale has increased the recovery ratio of public funds pumped into the insurance company from 60.5 percent to 65.4 percent.
The KDIC said it would soon come up with a disposal plan for its remaining 12.5 percent stake in the country’s second-largest life insurer by asset, after consultation with the Public Fund Oversight Committee, which oversees the retrieval of public funds.
In 1999, the government injected 3.55 trillion won of public funds into Hanwha Life Insurance -- then Korea Life Insurance -- in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis that put corporate Korea on the brink of bankruptcy.
In 2002, Hanwha Group, a leading South Korean family-owned conglomerate, acquired a 51 percent stake in Korea Life Insurance from the government. The insurance company was renamed Hanwha Life Insurance.
By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)
The stake, 23.9 million shares, was sold to domestic and foreign institutional investors through a block sale in after-hours trading for 173.9 billion won (US$153 million), or 7,280 won per share.
The state deposit insurer said the stake sale has increased the recovery ratio of public funds pumped into the insurance company from 60.5 percent to 65.4 percent.
The KDIC said it would soon come up with a disposal plan for its remaining 12.5 percent stake in the country’s second-largest life insurer by asset, after consultation with the Public Fund Oversight Committee, which oversees the retrieval of public funds.
In 1999, the government injected 3.55 trillion won of public funds into Hanwha Life Insurance -- then Korea Life Insurance -- in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis that put corporate Korea on the brink of bankruptcy.
In 2002, Hanwha Group, a leading South Korean family-owned conglomerate, acquired a 51 percent stake in Korea Life Insurance from the government. The insurance company was renamed Hanwha Life Insurance.
By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)
