BANK of China Ltd's Hong Kong unit said its purchase of a 4.9 percent stake in Bank of East Asia Ltd, the city's third-largest bank, doesn't presage a takeover.
BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd, 65.8 percent owned by China's second-largest bank, yesterday announced it paid HK$3.95 billion ($507 million) for the holding, calling it a "financial investment."
"At this point in time, we don't contemplate any further transaction which involves Bank of East Asia," BOC Hong Kong spokeswoman Clarina Man said in a phone interview yesterday.
Yesterday's announcement surprised some analysts, who were expecting an overseas lender to target Bank of East Asia to get access to its growing branch network in China, Bloomberg News reported.
La Caixa, Spain's largest savings bank, holds a 4.2 percent stake in the company.
"Bank of East Asia has always been talked about as a possible target for a foreign bank to take over as a fast way to get into China and Hong Kong," said Warren Blight, an analyst at Fox-Pitt Kelton in Hong Kong.