Standard Chartered To Pursue Organic Growth In Korea - Executive

10th Jun 2010 06:12

SEOUL (Dow Jones)--Standard Chartered PLC (2888.HK) will pursue an organic growth strategy in South Korea, the chief executive of its local unit, Standard Chartered Korea Ltd., said Thursday. "We have invested $5 billion of capital in Korea....We're going to continue to aggressively expand in businesses we're invested in already, and we're absolutely here for the long run," Richard Hill said at a press briefing, in response to a question on whether the firm is considering an acquisition of U.S.-based Lone Star Funds' majority stake in Korea Exchange Bank (004940.SE). In March, Lone Star launched its third attempt to sell its 51% stake in KEB, which is valued around $3.44 billion (KRW4.31 trillion) currently. Local media reports have named Standard Chartered as a potential suitor. -By Se Young Lee, Dow Jones Newswires; +82 2 3700 1904; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 10, 2010 01:12 ET (05:12 GMT)