Haitong to buy Hong Kong brokerage

Chinese brokerage Haitong Securities is set to buy a 53% stake in Hong Kong's Taifook Securities Group for US$235 million, Reuters reported. The company will pay cash through a Hong Kong subsidiary for 373.43 million shares held by HWS holdings, which owns 62% of the Hong Kong brokerage. Haitong will then make an offer for all of the remaining shares in Taifook at HK$4.88 (US$0.63) per share. Haitong has said it is seeking to expand and broaden its business by buying other financial services firms, using Hong Kong as a base for expansion. The announcement follows a suspension of trade in the two companies' shares, after plans for the deal surfaced one week ago.