UBS buys into S. Korea shipping firm

SEOUL: Swiss bank UBS AG said yesterday it has acquired a 5.47% stake in South Korean shipping firm STX Pan Ocean, worth about US$270mil at current market prices.

UBS said in a filing with South Korea's financial regulator that it had bought 113 million shares for investment purposes in STX Pan Ocean, South Korea's top bulk-shipping firm, which went public in Seoul last month after its 2005 IPO in Singapore.

Its US$630mil share offering was South Korea's biggest IPO this year, as investors clamoured for ways to cash in on soaring world trade.

Analysts predict continued upward momentum for the stock, with China's rapacious demand for iron ore, metals and other resources to fuel its galloping economic growth boosting international freight rates for bulk carriers, lifting earnings at dry-bulk shipping companies such as STX.

Source: Reuters