By Ju-min ParkSEOUL, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Hyundai Oilbank, South Korea’s
smallest crude oil refiner, has narrowed down a group of banks
to handle its up to $2 billion IPO planned for early
next year, with Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, and Citigroup
among the firms selected, sources with direct knowledge of the
matter said on Friday.The list of five foreign banks and 10 local banks will be
shortened further for final selection on or around October 21,
one of the sources said.The other foreign banks on the so called short list include,
BofA-Merrill and BNP Paribas. Woori Investment &
Securities and Daewoo Securities are
among the local banks placed on the list.The world’s largest shipbuilder, Hyundai Heavy Industries Co
Ltd , which owns a 91.1 percent stake in Hyundai
Oilbank is running the public float process.South Korean corporates typically choose multiple
underwriters for their stock offerings, often spreading out
responsibility across foreign and local banks for large deals.
Such a practise often prompts complaints from the banks, knowing
their fee will have to be shared with all involved.Still, banks bid aggressively for these large, high-profile
deals, as these transactions help seal a relationship with a
corporate for future transactions, assuming all goes well. Even
for a low fee, such deals also helps boost banks’ ranking status
on league table credits, which they use for external marketing
and internal progress checks.The offering’s early stages comes at a brutal time for
equity offerings, given the market volatility. The company, it’s
top shareholder and the banks hope the deal’s target date of
next May or June will come when markets settle.Mirae Asset Life Insurance has delayed its plan to next
June after deciding to offer preferred shares to private equity
funds.Sources say it will be the largest South Korean IPO since
the $4.4 billion offering by Samsung Life Insurance
last year.A Hyundai Heavy spokesman declined to comment. All
the banks mentioned either declined to comment or could not
immediately be reached.Other local banks on the deal include Samsung Securities
< 016360.KS >, Korea Investment & Securities, Mirae
Asset Securities < 037620.KS s and Shinhan Investment
Corp.
