HSBC extends deadline for six-billion-dollar SKorea bank deal

SEOUL (AFP) — Global banking giant HSBC said Tuesday it has extended by three months the deadline for completion of a six-billion-dollar deal to buy a South Korean bank from US fund Lone Star.

The deadline for its purchase of a 51 percent stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) was due to expire on April 30 but HSBC said in a statement it has been put back until July 31.

The Dallas-based buyout fund confirmed the extension.

South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) had withheld approval for the deal until court cases regarding Lone Star's original purchase of KEB in 2003 are settled.

HSBC said that if FSC approval is received before July 31, the deadline for the deal will be extended by two months from the date of that approval. It said the originally agreed purchase price would remain unchanged.

"The proposed transaction is ...