S.Korea banks consider $550 mln funding to Hynix
SEOUL, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Korea Exchange Bank (004940.KS) said it and four other domestic lenders are in talks to provide 800 billion won ($554 million) of fresh funding to Hynix Semiconductor Inc (000660.KS) to support the chip maker.
Hynix, the world's No. 2 memory chip maker, had asked its shareholders for up to 1 trillion won in fresh funding as the global memory chip industry faces a prolonged slump and rapidly weakening consumer demand amid the global downturn.
A spokesman at Korea Exchange Bank (004940.KS), a top shareholder of Hynix, said that domestic lenders, including the Korea Development Bank, Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank, had discussed a financial support package worth 800 billion won to Hynix on Monday.
"We did not reach an agreement at yesterday's meeting. We have to collect each bank's opinions before making a formal announcement around next week," he said.
His remarks came after Yonhap news reported that five banks in South Korea had agreed to provide 500 billion won in fresh loans to the chipmaker and take new shares worth 300 billion won next month, citing an inside document of a financial regulator.
The report added that Hynix was trying to raise 1 trillion won by selling non-core assets and through other measures.
On Monday, Economy Minister Lee Youn-ho said that shareholders of Hynix Semiconductor were close to agreeing on a cash injection for the loss-making South Korean chip maker.
(Reporting by Kim Yeon-hee; Editing by Kazunori Takada)
