Temasek divests its entire $643mln Hana shares

Analysts say move shows shifting of Temasek’s focus to resources sector-analysts while crippling Hana.

State investor Temasek Holdings is selling its entire 9.6 percent stake worth up to $643 million in South Korea's Hana Financial Group Inc, a term sheet obtained by Reuters showed.

Both Hana and Temasek had no immediate comment on the proposed sale, but the deal comes as Temasek had agreed to support a $5.3 billion rights offering by Standard Chartered.

"Just looking at it, in terms of overall holdings, it already has stakes in a number of Asian banks, such as in Indonesia, India and obviously China," Song Seng Wun, economist at CIMB Research in Singapore, said on Wednesday.

"And I suppose perhaps this is just a realignment or tweaking in its portfolio, as it perhaps shift the emphasis towards the resources sector.

The deal could also mark a setback for Hana as South Korea's fifth-biggest financial firm valued at $6.6 billion tries to gather shareholder support for its move to merge with bigger Woori Finance Holdings to challenge larger banks.

The Korean government expects that up to four bidders, including a buyout fund and Hana, will emerge for its 57 percent stake in Woori, worth more than $6 billion.

View the full story in Reuters.