KT Corp to buy 20% BC Card stake

Woori and KT will sign an MOU as two parties will continue to negotiate purchase price.

KT Corp will buy a 20 percent stake in BC Card from Woori Bank, a banking unit of Woori Finance Holdings, the bank said on Thursday.

"(Woori Bank and KT) will sign an MOU in a broad framework and discuss further details later," a Woori Bank spokesman said, adding the two parties will continue to negotiate the purchase price.

In February, KT, the country's top fixed-line operator and No.2 mobile firm, agreed to buy a 14.85 percent stake in the credit card processing company from Shinhan Card, which local media said was worth $87 billion.

The deal, which would make KT the largest shareholder in the credit card firm, comes at a time when South Korean telecom companies are trying to enter the financial services market in search of new growth sources.

A local private equity firm, Vogo Fund, is its biggest shareholder with a 30.68 percent stake.

SK Telecom, South Korea's No.1 mobile carrier, already tapped into the credit card market as saying it would buy a 49 percent stake in the credit card unit of Hana Financial Group for $343 million.

View the full story in Reuters.