Bankers report the Korean government has sprung one its customary surprises sending out a Request For Proposals RFP on Saturday for an equity-linked deal for Korea Telecom. Similar to the way that mandates for the exchangeable into Cho Hung and Woori Financial Holdings were handled in October, convertible experts have expressed their frustration at only being given 36 hours to turn the proposal round and see little point doing so anyway when Merrill Lynch is already believed to have been verbally awarded the mandate.
Having failed to sell a strategic stake in Korea Telecom via Merrill's, which acted as strategic advisor, the government is currently in the process of completing two major stock sales, of...
