Woori Bank, South Korea’s second largest lender, sealed the acquisition of a majority stake in Wealth Development Bank, the financial arm of the Gaisano family’s Viscal Development Corp.
Vicsal Development formalized the alliance with Woori Bank through a ceremony in Makati City Monday.
WealthBank president and chief executive Gregorio Anonas III said the partnership would broaden WealthBank’s market to include Korean small and medium enterprises and overseas Filipino workers, Korean businesses operating in the country and Korean citizens visiting and working in the Philippines.
“Our vision in the new WealthBank is to be a truly world-class financial institution with global presence. We aim to be able to provide full and 21st century banking services to our customers,” Anonas said
Woori Bank president and chief executive Kwang-Goo Lee said the company’s investment in WealthBank boosted their efforts to secure business opportunities outside Korea.
“Tapping Vicsal Group as our partner is in line with our initiatives to dive deeper into overseas market,” Lee said.
Wealthbank will have access to Woori Bank’s international network of 956 branches in South Korea and its 252 branches in 25 other countries.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas approved the application of Woori Bank to take over Wealth Development Bank in May 2016.
The Korea Times earlier quoted Woori Bank as saying it got an approval from the “Central Bank of the Philippines to purchase a 51-percent stake in the Wealth Development Bank.”
Woori Bank, which is headquartered in Seoul, is a subsidiary of Financial Group. Wealth Bank was established in 2002 and has $170 million in assets, with 16 branches that employ 300 employees.