"HAFC News" UPDATE 2-S.Korea Woori to buy Hanmi Financial for $240 mln
* To buy minimum of $210 mln shrs at $1.20/shr
* Hanmi plans separate $120 mln rights offering * Hanmi to put "substantial" amount of proceeds into unit (Recasts, adds details, background)
SEOUL/BANGALORE, May 26 (Reuters) - Woori Finance Holdings (053000.KS) (WF.N) has agreed to buy a controlling stake in troubled U.S. lender Hanmi Financial Corp (HAFC.O) for up to $240 million, as South Korea's No. 3 banking group by market value moves to expand its operations in the United States.
Under the agreement Woori will purchase Hanmi common stock worth at least $210 million at $1.20 per share. The South Korean group has the option to buy an additional $30 million worth of common stock, Hanmi said in a statement.
Hanmi also plans to commence a separate $120 million rights offering and Woori is expected to own at least a majority of Hanmi when its deal closes.
Hanmi Financial intends to contribute a "substantial" amount of the net proceeds from the investment as new capital into its unit Hanmi Bank.
Hanmi Financial, which has been under regulatory orders to raise capital, had been required to increase its capital by $100 million and maintain a ratio of tangible shareholders' equity to total tangible assets of not less than 9 percent by July 31.
The Woori investment is subject to the approval of the Federal Reserve Board, the California Department of Financial Institutions and the Korean Financial Services Commission.
Earlier this year, Hanmi said its chairman had spoken to Woori, but had declined to comment on rumours that it was a potential takeout target. [ID:nN2276797]
The deal is expected to give Woori the opportunity to tap into the Korean-American community on the U.S. west coast, where Hanmi's bank unit operates, in addition to Woori's existing U.S. arm Woori Bank on the east coast.
The transaction is expected to close by July or August, pending approval from the authorities, a source close to the matter said.
