[비즈한국] As the sale process of SangSangin038540 Savings Bank continues to be delayed, attention is focused on the background. SangSangin has been pursuing the sale of the savings bank for three years following the financial authorities' order to dispose of its stake. However, after negotiations with OK Savings Bank fell through, the deal with KBI Group also appears to be stalled. Industry insiders point to deteriorated financial soundness, the burden of capital expansion, and issues regarding employment succession as the reasons for the delay. Nevertheless, some analysts suggest that the deal is likely to proceed given KBI Group’s previous experience acquiring Raon Savings Bank and its history of gaining approval from financial authorities.
SangSangin Group has postponed the scheduled date for the disposal of its stake in SangSangin Savings Bank from April 30 to August 31. The initial expected disposal date was March 31, which was first pushed to April 30 and has now been extended again. In a regulatory filing on April 30, SangSangin stated, "If the transaction cannot be completed by August 31, such as in cases where approval for the acquisition of shares by the Financial Services Commission is not obtained or it is confirmed that approval is impossible, each party may terminate the stock purchase agreement." This means that if authorities' approval is not received by the end of August, the acquisition agreement with KBI Group can be terminated.
SangSangin has been pushing for the sale for nearly three years since it received an order from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in October 2023 to sell more than 90% of its stakes in SangSangin Savings Bank and SangSangin Plus Savings Bank. This is because Yu Jun-won, CEO of SangSangin Group, faced a three-month job suspension in December 2019 due to charges including illegal lending, which caused issues with maintaining major shareholder eligibility. CEO Yu is the largest shareholder holding a 23.65% stake in SangSangin, and SangSangin holds 100% of the stakes in both SangSangin Savings Bank and SangSangin Plus Savings Bank.
After negotiations with OK Savings Bank, a strong potential acquirer, fell through in July last year, SangSangin signed a contract in October of that year to sell a 90.01% stake (12.24 million shares) in SangSangin Savings Bank to KBI Group for 110.7 billion won. KBI Group is a company that focuses on automotive parts and operates businesses in industrial materials, construction/real estate, environment/energy, and textiles.
It has been confirmed that KBI Kookin Industry is currently leading the acquisition of SangSangin Savings Bank for KBI Group. KBI Kookin Industry is a mid-sized company in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, that handles waste management, recording 55.1 billion won in revenue and 33.3 billion won in net profit as of 2025.
The issue is that KBI Group has not yet filed an application for acquisition review with the authorities, even though nearly six months have passed since it signed the stock purchase agreement with SangSangin last October. A KBI Group official stated, "We are preparing according to the procedures to undergo the major shareholder eligibility review by the financial authorities, and we plan to submit the formal application as soon as it is completed."
KBI Kookin Industry entered the financial sector by acquiring the Gumi-based Raon Savings Bank in July 2025. It currently holds an 84.7% stake in Raon Savings Bank. If it succeeds in acquiring SangSangin Savings Bank, it will secure two savings banks. During a regular meeting held on July 23, 2025, the FSC approved KBI Kookin Industry’s share acquisition and evaluated it positively, stating, "It is significant as the first case where market-driven restructuring functioned for regional savings banks." Raon Savings Bank had received management improvement recommendations in December 2024 due to deteriorated soundness during the normalization process of real estate project financing (PF).
Regarding the qualifications of the savings bank's major shareholder, the FSC stated, "We thoroughly reviewed whether KBI Kookin Industry met the qualification requirements for a major shareholder, such as its debt-to-equity ratio and criminal record," adding, "We also judged that the capital increase plan for the management normalization of Raon Savings Bank was appropriate."
On the other hand, various speculations are arising as the application for the current SangSangin Savings Bank acquisition review has been delayed. The industry believes that the process of coordinating plans for capital expansion and the succession of employee employment has been prolonged. SangSangin Savings Bank’s financial soundness has deteriorated, with the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio reaching 22.53% as of the end of 2025 in the aftermath of PF insolvency.
Regarding this, KBI Group responded, "We will review capital expansion for SangSangin Savings Bank if necessary based on the 2026 financial results," and added, "We are discussing employment succession after the acquisition in a positive direction."
SangSangin explained, "SangSangin Savings Bank is continuously improving its soundness, with its delinquency rate falling from 18.7% at the end of 2024 to 16.9% at the end of 2025," and added, "In addition to improving soundness, we are strengthening financial stability. We have turned to a surplus, with operating profit shifting from -73.6 billion won to 9.8 billion won, and net profit from -68.4 billion won to 10.7 billion won."
However, it does not seem highly likely that the acquisition itself will be aborted. Since less than a year has passed since KBI Kookin Industry received approval for its Raon Savings Bank stake acquisition, analysts believe it will not be difficult to pass this review as well. In fact, KBI Kookin Industry succeeded in improving capital soundness after acquiring Raon Savings Bank, and the FSC lifted the management improvement recommendations for Raon Savings Bank on April 29.
Meanwhile, this sales deal also includes post-settlement conditions. It specifies that if damages, fines, or additional collections occur regarding loan receivables or securities previously executed by SangSangin Savings Bank, they will be recalculated accordingly. SangSangin Savings Bank was sentenced to a fine of 6.436 billion won and an additional collection of 3.218 billion won in the first trial related to CEO Yu’s illegal lending charges. The related trial is in the second instance, and the scale of fines and additional collections nearing 10 billion won is expected to be finalized based on the outcome.