KB Financial rights offer by September: CEO

HONG KONG (Reuters) - KB Financial Group (105560.KS) (KB.N), the parent company of top South Korean bank Kookmin, on Wednesday said it expected to complete its $2 billion rights offer by late August or early September.

A company board meeting is scheduled for early July to discuss the proposed rights offer, KB Financial chief executive Hwang Young-key told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference hosted by the Maeil Business Newspaper in Hong Kong.

"Hopefully, if everything goes as I envisaged, it will be over by late August or early September," said Hwang. "If the board members agree with the rights offering, we will go ahead with it."

KB Financial aims to raise about $2 billion in a rights offering, Hwang told reporters on June 19, in a move to bolster its balance sheet and prepare for possible acquisitions of Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) (004940.KS) and non-banking financial services companies.

KEB, South Korea's No. 6 bank, is 51 percent owned by U.S. private equity house Lone Star LS.UL, a stake worth 3.3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) at current market prices.

Hwang said U.S. private equity firm Lone Star LS.UL had not made any contact so far regarding the sale of Korea Exchange Bank assets, but added KB Financial remains open to bidding or negotiations to acquire the assets.

"We continue to be interested in the Korea Exchange assets, but we will not be in a hurry," said Hwang.

"We would like to see what Lonestar wants to do. If they open it up to a bidding, we go into bidding. If they want exclusive negotiations with only a couple of players, we will also be interested," he said.

Previous attempts to sell KEB to Kookmin Bank and HSBC in 2006 and 2007, respectively, fell through due to legal disputes.

(Reporting by Leonora Walet; Editing by Chris Lewis and Ken Wills)