Hana Financial agrees to extend deal to buy KEB

Hana Financial Group Inc., South Korea's No. 4 banking group, said Friday it has agreed to extend a deal with U.S. buyout fund Lone Star Funds to buy a controlling stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB). The group said its board was to hold a meeting in the late morning to review the terms of the deal, which will be extended by six months, and plans to announce the detailed results after the stock market closes. In November, Hana Financial clinched a deal to purchase a 51.02 percent stake in South Korea's No. 5 lender for 4.69 trillion won (US$4.33 billion), which required Hana Financial to complete the takeover by late May. But the financial watchdog's decision to delay its review of Lone Star Funds' eligibility as the top shareholder of KEB has complicated Hana Financial Group's attempt to buy KEB. Hana Financial has been seeking to lower the takeover price as KEB's recent decision to pay out a record interim dividend is cutting the corporate value of KEB. KEB's board decided last week to pay out a quarterly dividend worth of 1,510 won per share, causing U.S. private equity fund Lone Star to rake in dividends worth 496.9 billion won.