SINGAPORE (Standard&Poor's) March 14, 2006--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today it will monitor the developments of a bid by Singapore's DBS Bank Ltd. (AA-/Stable/A-1+) to acquire a majority stake in Korea Exchange Bank (KEB; BBB/Stable/A-2). On March 13, 2006, DBS Bank said it submitted a bid to acquire the KEB stake from U.S.-based Lone Star Group. This forms part of the preliminary bidding process for KEB, and DBS Bank is reported to be competing with other Korean banks for the preferred bidder status. "If successful, this bid could mark DBS Bank's first major foray into an area outside of its previous focus on the Greater China region and India," said Standard&Poor's credit analyst Adrian Chee.
