South Korea won slips to 5-year low after corporate merger deal

[SEOUL] The South Korean won slipped to a five-year low against the dollar on Tuesday morning, weighed down by expectations that dollar demand will rise following Tesco's sales of its largest overseas unit, Homeplus, in South Korea.

The won fell as low as 1,028.8 per dollar, the weakest intraday level since July 22, 2010, and was seen at 1,208.6 per dollar, down 0.4 per cent, as of 0100 GMT.

Tesco is selling its South Korean arm to a group led by private equity firm MBK Partners for US$6.1 billion, it said on Monday.

REUTERS