By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter


Newbridge Capital, a Texas-based fund investor and the largest shareholder of Korea First Bank, will soon announce Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) as the single potential buyer of the commercial bank.

Two other prospective buyers, including Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and Temasek Holdings, have pulled out of the bidding competition, according to banking sources.

``As the fund raised and invested by Newbridge Capital in the Korean bank will mature at the end of this year, there is little choice for the investor but to catch HSBC,’’ a foreign banker said.

The U.S. investor bought Korea First Bank on Dec. 30, 1999 and the maturity of the fund offered by the U.S. investor is five years. Newbridge should distribute a portion of its profits in the form of dividends to investors by the end of 2004 or early next year.

Noting that SCB has recently become a major shareholder of China-based Bohai Bank by acquiring a 19.99 percent stake, he said SCB has no capacity to take over a bank for the time being.

He said SCB has reportedly dropped the bidding to take over Korea First Bank, adding that Singapore government-owned Temasek Holdings gave up the bidding earlier.

But a domestic banker said he doesn’t rule out the possibility that the negotiations between HSBC and Newbridge will break down during the incoming final negotiations.

He said the government may forced to take over the bank again with taxpayers’ money under contracts favorable to Newbridge when Korean policymakers sold the bank to the fund in 1999.

kys@koreatimes.co.kr