S.Korea's Bridge Sec to buy into Vietnam broker

HANOI, March 3 (Reuters) - South Korean brokerage Bridge Securities Co Ltd (001290.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) would buy a 49 percent stake in a Vietnamese stockbroker firm, Vietnam's market regulators said.

Bridge Securities would buy 6,615,000 shares of unlisted Click and Call Securities Co, which was raising its registered capital to 135 billion dong ($8.4 million) from 30 billion dong, the State Securities Commission said.

It did not disclose the value of the deal in a statement seen on Monday.

Bridge Securities tried to get into Vietnam's stock markets last year with a failed attempt to team up with another domestic brokerage.

The korean firm said last July it had signed a contract to buy a 20 percent stake in Hai Phong Securities Co (Haseco) HPC.HN. A month later, Haseco said Bridge Securities did not comply with the contract.

Bridge Securities, whose chief executive, Ly Sang-jun, has said he had a royal Vietnamese ancestor, has been setting its sights on Vietnam to strike deals related to the privatisation of state-owned companies.

The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange .VNI, Vietnam's main exchange, closed down 2.19 percent at 663.30 points last Friday. The index has fallen 28 percent so far this year after rising 23.3 percent last year. ($1=16,046 dong) (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by Michael Battye)