PRINT THIS PAGE HSBC in talks to buy Korea First Bank from Newbridge Capital12/11/2004. Source: AltAssets. 
 HSBC is reportedly in talks to buy control of Korea First Bank from US private equity firm Newbridge Capital in what would be yet another stunning exit for a buy-out firm in the region. The Financial Times said the deal might be worth as much as $3.5bn.
Newbridge Capital, an affiliate of Texas Pacific Group, paid $500m for its 49 per cent share of the bank in 1999 and has management control. KFB is the fifth largest lender in Korea and is considered to represent one of the last significant entry points for a foreign bank into the attractive local market.
Discussions are said to be at an early stage and other parties are almost certain to want to get involved given the strength of the opportunity presented by KFB.
In February this year the Carlyle Group and JP Morgan Partners achieved a highly successful return on their investment in another Korean bank Koram when they sold their 36 per cent stake to Citigroup in a deal valued at around $2.7bn.
The growing number of high profile exits in Korea and elsewhere in Asia is helping to inflate unprecedented institutional interest in Asian private equity after years of almost complete inattention. Heavy losses following the Asian financial crisis in the late 1998 had wiped the region off the private equity map until very recently.
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