The South Korean government has named preferred bidders for two state-owned asset managers on Wednesday, including a group involving billionaire hedge fund financier George Soros.
For the potential buyers of the firms, which analysts have estimated to be worth around $430-$520 million each, the attraction is a chance to secure entry into South Korea’s $140 billion fund management industry, the world’s 11th biggest.
The Public Fund Oversight Committee, which is in charge of the sale, selected a consortium made up of British insurer Prudential, buyout fund Olympus Capital and a small South Korean brokerage owned by Soros as the top negotiator to buy Daehan Investment & Securities. The committee said in a statement it had picked local financial firm Dongwon Finance Holding as preferred bidder for second asset manager Korea Investment & Securities.