Seoul Securities to acquire CJ Futures in South Korea

Seoul Securities, the South Korean brokerage firm majority owned by George Soros's Quantum International Fund, has entered into a preliminary agreement to purchase CJ Futures from food and consumer products company, CJ Corporation, according to Thomas Kang, chief executive at the securities firm in Seoul.

While the securities firm has already been active in broking and trading derivatives, particularly Kospi futures products, Kang notes that currently securities firms are prohibited from clearing derivative trades bar the Kospi200 futures contract. Futures companies such as CJ Futures, however, are free to clear any derivative products and this was the impetus behind the move.

Under the agreement, Seoul Securities will acquire 97.5% of CJ Futures for 24.4 billion won ($19.7 million) while CJ Corp will receive one third of CJ Futures's earnings for the next two years. Kang added that the firm has intentions to buy the remaining stake in the company held by individual shareholders.

"This is a great opportunity to buy something at a price that we believe was reasonable," said Kang. "This is a company that made 3.2 billion won ($2.6 million) last year so we think it will have a positive impact on our earnings."