Industrial Bank of Korea sold off its entire 3.4% stake in discount store operator E-Mart through an overnight block trade on Thursday, raising W193.5 billion $171 million ahead of the implementation of new accounting measures facing Korean banks next year.
The Korean policy bank executed the transaction on the back of a strong rally in E-Mart’s share price following solid fourth quarter results, when the discount store chain reported a 20.5% increase in operating profit on a year-on-year basis. The deal was priced off E-Mart’s Thursday closing price of W215,000, the highest level since November last year.
The shares were, however, lower than their trading price in...