NEW YORK, May 10 (Reuters) - China CITIC Bank Corp Ltd will buy a 70.32 percent stake in investment holding company Citic International Financial Holdings Ltd for HK$13.6 billion ($1.8 billion).
The stake in the investment company, which went private in 2008, was previously owned by a wholly owned subsidiary of CITIC Group, China's top financial conglomerate.
The cash deal will require shareholder approval, Citic Bank said in a press release to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Sunday.
The acquisition will allow Citic Bank to expand its branch network to other international finance centers and establish a stronger presence in Hong Kong, the company said in the release.
Citic Bank said in the release that the unaudited net asset value of Citic International Financial Holdings was about HK$9.5 billion ($1.2 billion) at the end of 2008. The remaining 29.68 percent of the company belongs to Spain's second-largest bank BBVA.
Citic Bank added that it does not require the consent of BBVA to complete the transaction.
(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman, editing by Maureen Bavdek) Keywords: CITICBANK/CITIC (deepa.seetharaman@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223-6125; Reuters Messaging: deepa.seetharaman.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The stake in the investment company, which went private in 2008, was previously owned by a wholly owned subsidiary of CITIC Group, China's top financial conglomerate.
The cash deal will require shareholder approval, Citic Bank said in a press release to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Sunday.
The acquisition will allow Citic Bank to expand its branch network to other international finance centers and establish a stronger presence in Hong Kong, the company said in the release.
Citic Bank said in the release that the unaudited net asset value of Citic International Financial Holdings was about HK$9.5 billion ($1.2 billion) at the end of 2008. The remaining 29.68 percent of the company belongs to Spain's second-largest bank BBVA.
Citic Bank added that it does not require the consent of BBVA to complete the transaction.
(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman, editing by Maureen Bavdek) Keywords: CITICBANK/CITIC (deepa.seetharaman@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223-6125; Reuters Messaging: deepa.seetharaman.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.