S. Korea shops minority stake in Seoul Bank.(Brief Article)

Byline: Michael Baker

SEOUL -- After failing for three years to sell a majority stake in Seoul Bank to a foreign commercial bank, the South Korean government appears ready to take the intermediary step of selling a minority stake to Deutsche Bank AG's private equity arm.

DB Capital Partners submitted a letter of intent July 11 to buy a 30% to 50% stake in Seoul Bank. This could pave the way for a majority stake several years later, analysts said.

"As Seoul Bank's financial adviser, Deutsche Bank knows well the problems and strengths of Seoul Bank and probably believes they can make huge capital gain in two or three years," said one analyst, who …