BIZCHINA / Overseas Investment
Citibank beats out Societe Generale for Guangdong bank
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-09-13 11:09
China has approved a plan for a consortium led by US banking giant
Citigroup to buy into Guangdong Development Bank, a bid that beat out one
made by France's Societe Generale, an official said.
Citigroup will take a 19.9 percent stake in the troubled Guangdong
Development Bank, said a Guangdong bank official who insisted on
anonymity.
A pedestrian passes the Citibank building in New York City. US banking
titan Citigroup and British Airways have written to President George W.
Bush and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to urge them to
"identify a way forward" for stalled global trade talks. [AFP]
No details on the price or the final composition of the investment group
were immediately available.
The decision by the State Council appeared to end a year-and a-half
battle for control of the troubled south China lender.
The American and French-led consortiums, teamed up with mainland Chinese
partners, had wanted to purchase at least 80 percent of the debt-laden
Chinese bank.
Official newspapers had reported that the Citigroup consortium -- which
includes China Life Group, the nation's largest insurer, and State Grid
Corp, the major electricity distributor -- offered around 3.0 billion
dollars for an 85 percent stake in Guangdong Development Bank.
The Carlyle Group, a private Washington-based investment firm, pulled out
of the bidding group, Chinese press reports said Tuesday.
The Guangdong bank official said that Citigroup had raised its price for
the stake but refused to provide further details.
Citigroup officials declined to comment.
The offer from Societe Generale and its partners, including petroleum
giant Sinopec and top steelmaker Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp, also
amounted to about three billion dollars, including 600 to 650 million
dollars from the French bank.
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