Bankers met over Hynix sale, seek progress by Sept
SEOUL, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Lead managers for a deal to sell 36 percent in Hynix Semiconductor Inc (000660.KS) have agreed to sell the stake by a tentative deadline of September, a leading Hynix shareholder said on Tuesday.
Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX), Woori Investment & Securities (005940.KS) and Korea Development Bank were picked in November for the sale of the Hynix stake, held by financial firms including Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) (004940.KS).
"Officials from lead managers, an accounting firm and a law firm met for the first time last week and decided they would aim for a deal by September," said a spokesman at KEB, a leading Hynix shareholder.
"It is not a definite or likely deadline, but they needed a kind of timeframe to work with."
Prospects for the stake sale have dimmed as an extended downturn in the memory chip industry hammered chip makers' valuations and market interest disappeared in the midst of the downturn that saw consumer demand for electronics dry up.
Top shareholders of Hynix, the world's second-biggest maker of computer memory chips, agreed in late December to provide $370 million in fresh loans and support its new share issue to help cash-strapped Hynix weather the downturn.
A 36 percent stake is worth 1.17 trillion won ($867 million) at the current market price, less than a quarter of its value in early June, when the stock hit its 2008 peak.
At 0105 GMT, Hynix shares were up 1.88 percent at 7,050 won, against the wider market's 0.53 percent gain. ($1=1349.0 Won) (Reporting by Rhee So-eui; Editing by Keiron Henderson)
