Kookmin Bank sells out stake in parent group

SEOUL, July 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's largest lender Kookmin Bank sold out its stake in parent KB Financial Group Inc. on Friday, dissipating concerns over its share holdings. Kookmin Bank bought a 21 percent stake in its parent in September 2008 when the financial holdings company was established. By banking law, the lender is required to unload its remaining 9.05 percent stake in KB Financial by the end of September. KB Financial said in a regulatory filing that the lender sold the interest for 1.81 trillion won (US$1.71 billion). It was sold at a 3.18 percent discount from Thursday's closing price of 53,500 won. Financial sources said the stake was sold to long-term overseas investors earlier in the day, with the brokerage units of Citigroup and Merrill Lynch managing the sale. Kookmin Bank, which bought the stake for 57,200 won per share, had been weighing the appropriate timing of the share sale. The top lender has continued to reduce its holdings in KB Financial via equity swaps with top steelmaker POSCO and leading mobile carrier SK Telecom Co.