Hana Financial Group signed a non-binding preliminary agreement with Lone Star Funds to acquire a majority stake in Korea Exchange Bank, the Korea Herald reports.The agreement gives Hana a better chance, for now, than ANZ to reach terms over the 51 per cent stake in KEB that Lone Star has for sale. However, this may not be a neat gazumping of ANZ, as reports early yesterday concluded.Hana, one the smaller domestic banks in South Korea, has been weighing its options regarding a bid for Woori Financial, a larger bank in which the government is the vendor of a controlling stake.A final choice between KEB and Woori will be made before Woori's November 26 deadline for bidding, Hana chairman Kim Seung-yoo told reporters.Hana would "likely pay a premium of 10 per cent or more to the current market value" of US$3.8 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.The present agreement may suit the direction of related negotiations between Hana and the Government over Woori, as well as those of Lone Star with ANZ. "It's a non-binding deal, which means Lone Star can be engaged in separate sales talks," a Financial Supervisory Service official told the Korea Herald.