Hyundai Securities eyes 595 bln won rights offering

Hyundai Securities Co., South Korea's No. 3 brokerage by market cap, said Tuesday it plans to conduct a rights offering worth 595 billion won (US$512 million) to meet the government's minimum requirement to become an investment bank. The brokerage said in a regulatory filing it will issue 70 million preferred shares for 8,500 won apiece. The move is set to boost Hyundai Securities' equity capital to 3.16 trillion won from 2.56 trillion won as of end-June. In July, the country's financial regulator said it plans to allow brokerages with an equity capital over 3 trillion won to become investment banks. Three of the country's five largest brokerages by equity capital have already announced plans for rights offerings. Daewoo Securities Co. is pushing for a 1.4 trillion won rights offering and Woori Investment & Securities Co. and Samsung Securities Co. plan to issue new shares worth 600 billion won and 400 billion won, respectively. A spokesman for Korea Investment & Securities Co. said its parent Korea Investment Holdings Co. is reviewing a rights offering, but said no details have yet been determined. Shares of Hyundai Securities closed at 9,740 won on the Seoul main bourse, down 4.04 percent from Monday's close.