Chairman Yim Jong-yong of Nonghyup Financial Group.

Chairman and CEO Yim Jong-yong of Nonghyup Financial Group said the financial group intends to make a bid to take over four Woori Financial Group affiliates including Woori Investm-ent and Securities, Woori Aviva Life Insurance, Woori Asset Management, and Woori Savings Bank, but the group is not at all interested in Woori Financial and Woori F&I.

At a meeting with media reporters on the occasion of his first 100 days in office on Sept. 30, the top Nonghyup Financial Group official said if the 1-plus-three method of takeover doesn’t work, he will try to take over Woori Investment and Securities and Woori Aviva Life Insurance in one bundle, taking aim at the synergy among the bank, securities firm, and life insurer to enhance the competitive edge of Nonghyup Financial Holding Co. The takeover of Woori Inves-tment and Securities is being counted on to create momentum for internal reform at the NH financial group as it would diversify the businesses of NH Financial with it’s capacity to manage corporate finance and asset management, Yim said.

At the same time, Woori Investment and Securities, too, would have access to the 16 billion won that NH has and use it for various projects related to Nonghyup’s primary economic sector, which deals with agricultural projects.

Yim said they would not have any problems raising the funds needed to complete the take over as they have the ability to mobilize all of the group’s resources. Yim also said they would go for the formation of partnerships with other financial firms, one of the many plans under consideration at the current stage.

Yim noted that Nonghyup used to be a powerhouse in the financial market when he was a division head at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance with the government sometimes asking for funds when its cash flow was not good, but now things have changed.

He said he is thinking about sending some of the group’s staff to commercial banks for training, especially in the area of risk management so that NH Bank would be able to compete with commercial banks on equal terms.

He said the first stage, which was the internal decision to take over Woori Investment and Securities, has been concluded and the final decision on the takeover price will be made after analyzing the strategies for managing the securities firm and quantifying how much synergy can be generated.

As to the argument that Nonghyup has no qualifications to bid for the securities firm as it is a government-run public entity, Yim said NH Financial Group is not a government-owned financial group as it was set up by funds provided by farmers, thus making it a 100-percent private entity. The five trillion won provided by the government to help Nonghyup pay for the interest on loans went to the economic sector of Nonghyup, not the financial sector. Furthermore, he said the funds to be used for the takeover will come from within Nonghyup Financial Group, not a cent from the government.

As to the relationship with NH Central Cooperatives, he said NH Financial is still part of the NHACF and should cooperate closely, but they should have their own rights of management including personnel matters and management policies.

Yim said he will respect the NHACF’s role and rights, which are equal to a majority shareholder in many areas of NH Finan-cial’s businesses, especially in the area of M&As as he has done for his first 100 days.

NH Financial Holdings celebrated its one-year anniversary on March 2 at a ceremony held on Feb. 28 at the NH Bank head office with officials and heads of other NH financial affiliates including NH Capital, NH Securities, NH Non-Life Insurance, and NH Bank, led by NH Financial Holdings.

Since its spinoff from the National Agricultural Cooperatives Federation (NACF) on March 2, 2012, NH Finance has now grown to seven affiliates including NH Bank, NH Securities, and NH Non-Life Insurance with total assets of 240 trillion won, becoming the fifth largest financial group in Korea in terms of assets.