Hotel Lotte listing expected to be delayed until after June: source

[SEOUL] South Korea's Lotte Group is expected to delay a planned listing for Hotel Lotte Co Ltd until after June, a regulatory source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.

Hotel Lotte, whose US$4.9 billion IPO is slated to be the world's biggest this year, has delayed a roadshow as it needed to disclose an ongoing bribery investigation, according to people familiar with the matter.

Hotel Lotte had previously planned to list this month.

According to local rules, Hotel Lotte must list before the end of July or start its listing process over again.

It is expected to file a prospectus with additional information for investors later on Tuesday, said the regulatory source, who declined to be identified as the information has not been formally disclosed.

A Lotte Group spokesman on Tuesday declined to give details about possible changes in the listing date until a public filing is made.

Hotel Lotte Co Ltd's duty free division said on Monday it chooses the brands it sells "fairly and objectively" as it responded to the bribery investigation by prosecutors.

According to domestic news agency Yonhap, prosecutors are looking into whether the company and Shin Young-ja, an external director at Hotel Lotte and daughter of Lotte Group's founder, received bribes from local cosmetics company Nature Republic in exchange for store space.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' office on Tuesday declined to comment on the investigation.

REUTERS