A plan for the restructuring of the debt-laden Guangdong
Development Bank has been submitted to the State Council, China's
cabinet, for approval, the China Securities Journal said
Wednesday.
The plan includes the latest offers from the three bidders. They
consist of a consortium led by U.S. banking giant Citigroup,
another consortium led by the Societe Generale of France and
China's Ping An Insurance Company.
The Citigroup consortium, which includes China Life Insurance
Group, the nation's largest insurer, and the China Guodian Corp, a
major electricity distributor, is offering 24.1 billion yuan (about
US$3.01 billion) for an 85 percent stake in the troubled bank, the
report said, quoting well-informed sources.
The Citigroup consortium's offer is 600 million yuan higher than
that of the Societe Generale and 1.5 billion yuan higher than that
of the Ping An Insurance, the report said.
The Citigroup consortium is offering to take 40 to 45 percent of
the shares, which exceeds the limit of 25 percent foreign ownership
of a Chinese bank, the report said. No further explanation was
given.
By the end of June this year, the Guangdong Development Bank had
assets worth of 387 billion yuan. It reported a pre-tax profit of
1.68 billion yuan in the first half of the year, up 200 percent
year on year.
By the end of 2003, the bank's bad loans totaled 35.7 billion
yuan, accounting for 18.53 percent of its total loans.
(Xinhua News Agency September 28, 2006)