Barclays buys Citic stake
28 July 2006
China Citic Bank is to sell a 5% stake to Barclays, Britain's third-largest lender by market value, the South China Morning Post reported. It is unclear how much Barclays will pay for the stake, which will be used to boost Citic's financials ahead of a US$2 billion public offering in Hong Kong. Citic Bank, China's seventh-largest lender by assets, is part of state-owned investment conglomerate Citic Group. The international arm of Citic Group will buy a 16% stake in its sister financial institution for US$652 million, 1.15 times book value. Barclays opened its first branch in Shanghai last year, offering market, foreign exchange, debt finance and risk management services.