By Shu-Ching Jean Chen -
Beijing-based Bank of China Ltd., one of China's big four state-owned banks, has completed a preliminary screening process to find a foreign strategic investor, the first step to a massive offshore IPO.
Tang Shuangning, deputy head of China Banking Regulatory Commission, the industry regulator, revealed the development Thursday, Nov. 11. He also reiterated plans to open up all of China's big four state banks to foreign investment.
Tang, in a speech to an international finance forum held in central Hebei province, didn't name the potential buyers, but Chinese media reports that Bank of China had been in talks with Citigroup Inc., HSBC Holdings plc, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Deutsche Bank AG for an equity investment. Other reports speculated that Goldman, Sachs & Co., a financial adviser responsible for the successful listing of Bank of China's Hong Kong subsidiary in Hong Kong two years ago, also was eager to buy a small stake in Bank of China.
In his speech, Tang also laid out three key steps in the Chinese government's effort to overhaul the lumbering big four state banks, which also include China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China.
The banks will have their debt restructured and then will be transformed into commercial entities in the form of shareholding companies. They may then seek foreign strategic investors before being floated publicly. He stressed the government has not set a timetable for the plan.
Source: The Deal
