Lotte $4.9-bn IPO faces fresh setback on bribery probe

Lotte Group's hotel unit is facing delays with its initial public offering after the South Korean company and a member of its founding family became embroiled in a bribery probe, people familiar with the matter said, in the latest setback for what may be the world's biggest IPO this year.

Hotel Lotte Co, which had planned to begin meeting with potential overseas investors on June 6, is pushing back the roadshow with no new timetable in sight, the people said on Saturday, asking not to be identified because the information is private. A Lotte Group spokesman confirmed the schedule is being adjusted and that prosecutors raided Hotel Lotte last week.
 
For Lotte Group, a business empire with more than 100 trillion won ($85 billion) in assets, the investigation adds to the turmoil that's plagued the Japanese-Korean conglomerate since last year, when a power struggle atop the founding Shin family erupted.