Kookmin changes structure to free up cash for M

South Korea's Kookmin Bank set up a holding company yesterday, freeing up money for mergers and acquisitions that Chairman Hwang Young Key plans to use to extend the company's dominance at home.

By adopting a holding company structure, Kookmin will be able to pay an amount equivalent to its total shareholder equity for takeovers, up from 30 percent currently. Hwang, chairman of holding company KB Financial Group Inc, said he wants to buy a bank, brokerage and insurer to become one of Asia's 10 largest lenders within five years.

Hwang's appetite for overseas takeovers may have diminished after the head of state-owned Korea Development Bank was criticized by the regulator and lawmakers for attempting to purchase New York-based securities firm Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, which subsequently went bankrupt.