Lone Star Funds rode to Merrill Lynch & Co.'s rescue this week, agreeing to pay $6.7 billion for its shaky mortgage securities and garnering attention as one of the few brave buyers in the global credit crunch. In Seoul, meanwhile, Lone Star is mired in a very different story as it soldiers on its three-year attempt to sell Korea Exchange Bank.
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As South Korean prosecutors waged a two-fronted war against Lone Star executives and others involved in the Dallas firm's 2003 acquisition of the bank, Lone Star was forced to scrap a $7.3 billion deal to sell the lender to Kookmin Bank in 2006. Now HSBC Holdings plc's $6.3 billion agreement for a controlling stake faces yet another extension. As the deadline of Thursday midnight in London approaches, the U.K. bank may yet opt to pull out. - Laura Board
For more about this deal, see The Deal newsweekly feature: Lose, lose
