? ?
BIZCHINA / Center
CDB makes global finance foray
By Zhang Ran (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-07-24 10:19
?
China Development Bank's Shanghai branch. The bank?dramatically increased
its international profile by announcing that it will buy up to 5% in
London-based Barclays. [newsphoto]
In an unprecedented sortie into the global financial market, a
State-owned bank has teamed up with an international partner to join
Europe's most heated competition in a banking takeover.
Yesterday, China Development Bank (CDB) - the largest of the three policy
banks specializing in government-sponsored domestic infrastructure
investment - dramatically increased its international profile by
announcing that it will buy up to 5 percent in London-based Barclays,
Britain's third largest lender.
Barclays is trying to close a merger with ABN Amro, Europe's eighth
largest bank in total assets.
In an official statement, CDB Governor Chen Yuan expressed "strong
support" to the Barclays management's global strategy.
And that support is mainly in cash, John Studzinski, senior managing
director of Blackstone - which is providing financial advisory services
to CDB in its Barclays deal - told China Daily.
CDB's Barclays deal is the first time that a State-backed financial
organization has become an active player in an international buyout of a
large financial service network.
According to an announcement by CDB, it will join Temasek Holdings of
Singapore to invest up to 13.4 billion euros ($18.5 billion) in Barclays
through subscription of shares. And that, in turn, will provide
additional capital for Barclays in its ongoing bid for Amsterdam-based
ABN Amro.
After enlisting the two Asian supporters, Barclays made a simultaneous
announcement revising its bid for ABN Amro, increasing the offer from an
earlier 64 billion euros ($88.4 billion) up to 67.5 billion euros ($93.3
billion).
With the share issue to CDB and Temasek Holdings, Barclays also recast
its bid for ABN Amro from an all-share offer to a cash-and-share deal,
with cash making up 37 percent of the total.
Related readings:
?1st RMB bond in HK hugely oversubscribed
?CDB to sell first-ever RMB bonds in Hong Kong
?China mulling over reform on policy financial institutions
?Barclays Capital seeks expansion in China
?Foreign Banks triple China profit growth
?ABN Amro sets up fifth branch in China
CDB will initially subscribe 2.2 billion euros ($3.04 billion) of
Barclays new ordinary shares, or a 3.1 percent stake of the private
British bank. But if its bid for ABN Amro succeeds, according to the
agreement, CDB will be able to subscribe a further 7.6 billion euros
($10.5 billion) of Barclays ordinary shares.
Sun Mingchun, vice-president and chief economist of Lehman Brothers Asia,
saw it as "a very active move" by a Chinese financial firm in seeking
overseas expansion.
"Unlike the embryonic State Investment Company's $3 billion subscription
in Blackstone's shares in May, which is merely a financial investment
aimed to balance the massive foreign exchange reserves, CDB's investment
is an active move targeted at improving the bank's management and seeking
overseas expansion," Sun said.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
?? ?? 1?? 2?? ??
?? ?? 1?? 2?? ??
Learn mandarin
No comments:
Post a Comment