'Hynix' bank agrees to Lone Star takeover

LOS ANGELES -- Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), the leader of a consortium of banks and investors that has engaged in controversial debt-for-equity swaps with troubled Korean DRAM maker Hynix Semiconductor Inc., has agreed to give Lone Star fund a majority shareholding in return for a capital investment.

As a result of the transaction Lone Star will hold a 51 percent equity interest in KEB, and Commerzbank a 14.75 percent stake.

KEB president and chief executive officer Kang Won Lee and Lone Star chairman John Grayken signed an agreement Wednesday morning of August 27, 2003, at Lotte Hotel, Seoul, according to Pacific Union Bank. Lone Star is to invest 1.4 trillion won (about US$1.2 billion) in the Korean bank (see August 26 story).

"This investment into KEB is our largest single investment. The investment reaffirms our strong commitment to Korea as well as our positive valuation of KEB's potential," Ellis Short, vice chairman of Lone Star, in a statement.