naked capitalism

JP says:

So somebody inside KDB leaks the info. Why? If they’re on the buy side, they want the price to go lower.

And a gov’t official tells us that the deal is nonsense (inasmuch as Korean social rules would allow).

Very strange story indeed. Looks to me like somebody has a load of LEH stock that they need to unload.

Anonymous says:

FYI: Old, but of interest:

Korean newspapers report that the New York-based brokerage firm first approached sovereign wealth fund Korean Investment Corp. But KDB apparently wasn’t upset by the snub, perhaps because of some personal ties to Lehman: Its chief executive, Min Euoo-Sung, was the head of Lehman’s Korean operations for three years before taking over at KDB last year.

Lehman’s clock is ticking
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/22/magazines/fortune/lehman.sale.fortune/?postversion=2008082218

According to Bove, if a deal doesn’t materialize by Monday, then “Lehman is in play.” He suggested a stock price of around $20 might get a deal done. Given Lehman’s recent lows, and the memory of what happened to Bear Stearns earlier this year, that might not sound like a bad price.

** FIRST PUBLISHED: AUGUST 22, 2008: 1:37 PM EDT

Anonymous says:

Yves, have you read this:

Lehman Brothers in urgent talks on capital injection
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/08/31/cnleh131.xml

If the talks with the Koreans fall through, Lehman is lining up alternative investment from other sources, including Citic Securities, a Chinese brokerage which was on the verge of investing in Bear Stearns before its implosion earlier this year, which resulted in a cut-price takeover by JP Morgan, another Wall Street banking group.

JP says:

Or former Lehman exec now at the helm of KDB is doing his old buddies a favor by making it look like there might be a bid…

Honestly, that is the best explanation I’ve heard so far. Nothing brings in buyers like the rumor that their competitors are interested.

Anonymous says:

Earlier post by Yves is great:

Re: MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2007

Mirabile Dictu: Bear Makes a Deal With Citic

Well, I thought no one would do a deal with Bear, at least not a strategic investor sort (taking a trading position is another matter entirely). But the government controlled Chinese entity Citic appears to have done just that.

>> Jimmy Cayne, Bear Stearns chief executive, said the opportunity to create an alliance with Citic was the most attractive deal he had come across in 40 years.

“It’s a giant step into the most exciting market in the world,” he told the Financial Times. He added that he did not expect significant regulatory problems given the relatively small size of the deal.

Under the proposed alliance, Citic Securities will acquire $1bn worth of securities that will convert into a shareholding of about 6 per cent in Bear Stearns over 40 years. The Chinese brokerage also has the option to raise its holding to 9.9 per cent.

LOL!

curious-er says:

If the previous article on a possible currency crisis in Korea has any validity, the Koreans are probably circling the wagons now. They’ll shy away from a risky deal like this, unless Lehman is willing to give itself away damn near free.