Goldman Gets Nod for China Bank Investment-Paper
Fri Dec 23, 2005
HONG KONG (Reuters) - An investment group led by Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has won State Council approval to acquire 10 percent of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China [ICBC.UL], the South China Morning Post said on Friday.
Goldman's private equity arm in August agreed to team up with European insurer Allianz (ALVG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) and American Express (AXP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) for the ICBC stake in a deal worth more than $3 billion as part of a wave of foreign investment in mainland lenders, the newspaper said.
A Goldman spokesman declined to comment.
Xie Ping, general manager of China Central Huijin Co., which controls 50 percent of ICBC, declined to comment if the Goldman group had been approved and said ICBC was still in talks with different strategic investors.
A Kuwait state investment agency was looking to buy a stake in ICBC, Kuwait's Oil Minister said on Thursday.
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