Woori Financial Group Share Sale "Difficult Due to COVID-19 This Year... Completion by 2022"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Gang-wook] Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the government's share sale of Woori Financial Group has ultimately extended beyond the year.

The Financial Services Commission announced on the 30th that it will proceed with the complete sale of the remaining shares by 2022 as planned to fully privatize Woori Financial Group.

According to the Financial Services Commission on this day, the Public Fund Management Committee (PFMC) held a meeting on the 28th to review the progress of the Woori Financial Group sale roadmap announced on June 25 of last year. According to the roadmap, the first round of share sales was supposed to begin in the first half of this year.

The PFMC explained that it was realistically difficult to sell the remaining shares of Woori Financial this year.

The PFMC stated, "We have been preparing to start the sale immediately once favorable selling conditions are established and have been monitoring market conditions. However, due to the sharp drop in stock prices caused by COVID-19, difficulties in holding investor briefings for domestic and foreign investors, and increased market uncertainty due to the U.S. presidential election, there were challenges in deciding to start the sale."

They added, "The reason for not selling this year was a comprehensive consideration of these market conditions and the goal of maximizing the recovery of public funds."

The PFMC emphasized that it will continue efforts to complete the sale as scheduled by 2022 according to the Woori Financial Group sale roadmap.

Previously, the government announced a roadmap to conduct a dispersed sale in two to three rounds by 2022, starting with the first round of share sales in the first half of 2020. The Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation holds 17.25% of Woori Financial Group shares.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.