Ping An gets approval to buy Chinese bank stake
CHINESE regulators have approved a plan by Shenzhen-based powerhouse Ping An Insurance to buy a stake in Shenzhen Development Bank (SDB) from US private equity firm TPG, Ping An said yesterday.
TPG is expected to make a profit of more than $2.14bn on the sale – a return of more than seven times its original investment.
Ping An, which already owns 4.7 per cent of Shenzhen said it has received all the necessary approvals to buy TPG’s 16.76 per cent stake in SDB in a deal that will return the bank to full Chinese ownership, nearly six years after TPG became the first foreign investor to take a controlling stake in a Chinese lender.
Ping An said in June last year that it would buy up to 30 per cent of Shenzhen Development Bank, including a 16.76 per cent stake from the lender’s biggest shareholder, Newbridge, and the remainder via a private share placement.