Korean loan provider Rush and Cash has been selected as the preferred bidder for Camko Specialised Bank, after 100 per cent of its shares were put up for sale last month by a South Korean state-run deposit insurer.

The sale, announced on Monday on the website of Korea Deposit Insurance Corp (KDIC), will see Rush and Cash, a consumer financing brand of Apro Financial Group, acquire the specialised bank after its major shareholder, Busan Mutual Savings Bank, went bankrupt in 2011.

KDIC expects to finalise a sale and purchase agreement by March 31, it said. The sale follows four earlier attempts to sell the Cambodian specialised bank.

Camko, with $12.6 million in assets, had a non-performing loan rate of 60 per cent, or more than $4 million, most of which was linked to customers who purchased residential units in Camko City, a satellite city being built on the outskirts of Phnom Penh by Korean developer World City and bankrolled by Busan.

KDIC was directed by South Korean courts to dilute the stake of two Busan affiliates – Busan and Busan 2 Savings Banks – to recover money it paid Korean investors as insurance.