Minsheng Bank to buy 20% share of UCBH - ResearchInChina
Date:2007-10-08
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CHINA'S Minsheng Banking Corp (stock code: 600016) will buy 20 percent of UCBH Holdings Inc by 2009, the first stake purchase by a Chinese mainland bank in a US bank.
Minsheng, China's first non-state-owned bank and the seventh-largest bank by market value, will buy 5.4 million shares of UCBH shares for US$96 million, taking up a 4.9 percent stake, according to a statement released by UCBH, the biggest bank serving Chinese communities in the United States.
Next year, Minsheng will raise its ownership to 9.9 percent and by June 2009, the bank may increase its holding to 20 percent, the statement said.
UCBH Holdings Inc, with US$10.65 billion in assets as of June 30 this year, is the holding company for United Commercial Bank, which is a leading bank in the United States serving the Chinese communities and American companies doing business in Greater China.
The company has 70 branches in the United States and one in Hong Kong. It has also opened representative offices in Shanghai and Shenzhen.
Beijing-based Minsheng has US$112 billion in assets and 298 branches.
UCBH will use proceeds from the initial sale for a pending acquisition in China, according to the statement. That part of the deal will close in the fourth quarter, the statement said.
In March, UCBH said it will buy China's Business Development Bank Ltd for US$205 million to gain a toe-hold in the world's fastest-growing major economy.
Shares of the Shanghai-listed Minsheng Bank surged 0.69 yuan (9 US cents), or 4.36 percent, by 11:30am today, which is the first trading day after the week long National Day holiday.
The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks both yuan-denominated A shares and hard-currency B shares, jumped 2.99 percent, or 166.19 points, to close at 5,718.49.
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