QINGDAO City Commercial Bank will sell a combined 24.9 percent stake to Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and International Finance Corp.
The city commercial bank will hold a ceremony to sign the deal on Thursday, the bank said yesterday.
Italy's second-largest bank will buy 19.9 percent in the Qingdao bank while International Finance Corp, the investment arm of the World Bank, will buy five percent.
The Italian bank will pay about 100 million euros (US$136 million) for the deal, according to Bloomberg News.
Under China's banking rules, a single foreign investor is limited to holding not more than 20 percent in a local bank, and total foreign ownership in a single bank is capped at 25 percent.
China's 115 city commercial banks are beefing up efforts to attract strategic investors and be listed. Qingdao bank was set up in northern Shandong Province in late 1996.
Chongqing Commercial Bank has hired Goldman Sachs Gaohua Securities as underwriter for its planned initial public offering on China's mainland. The IPO is expected this year.
The China Banking Regulatory Commission has given approval for Hong Kong's Dah Sing Bank to buy 17 percent of the Chongqing lender in March while turning down US private-equity firm Carlyle's plan to buy 7.99 percent, the Chinese lender said in its annual report.
Dah Sing may raise its stake to 20 percent after Carlyle's exit.
Elsewhere, Bank of Dalian has signed an agreement to sell a 20-percent stake to Canada' Bank of Nova Scotia, Reuters reported yesterday, citing unnamed source. Officials of the Dalian bank were not available for comment.