In some style and significantly in-the-money, Goldman Sachs Private Equity monetized a portion of its 9.72% stake in Kookmin Bank at New York's close on Tuesday. Pre-greenshoe, the firm raised $633.6 million from the sale of a 3.46% stake that should significantly boost the firm's Asian PL in a difficult year for investment banking revenues.
From both the issuer and syndicate's perspective, the execution and pricing of the deal were considered a great success, with Kookmin achieving the tightest discount on record for a Korean bank DR. Prior to the launch of the deal, Goldman's stake was valued at $1.5 billion, a 200% increase from its $500 million purchase price in the summer...