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Top China Bank Buys Record $5.6B Stake in African Lender

Posted Oct 26, 07 8:14 AM CDT in World,  Business    Editor's Choice

(Newser) – Prodded by Beijing to invest in developing countries, China's massive state-owned bank has inked a deal to buy 20% of South Africa's Standard Bank for $5.6 billion, marking the largest Chinese investment ever in Africa. ICBC, flush with cash, is eager to provide financial services to Chinese companies increasingly active in the Horn of Africa, Reuters reports.

Standard Bank, based in Johannesburg, operates in 18 African countries and offers the most direct conduit yet for Chinese capital in Africa. The South African government has welcomed the deal, anxious to encourage further Chinese investment. ICBC last year  raised $21.9 billion in the world's largest IPO, and in July overtook Citigroup as the world's largest bank by market value.

Source Reuters

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ICBC has bought a 20% share in Standard Bank.   (Getty Images)
Pedestrians pass an Industrial & Commercial Bank of China branch in Hong Kong in this April 3, 2007 file photo. China's biggest bank announced Thursday, Oct. 25, it will buy 20 percent of South Africa's...   (Associated Press)
ICBC has bought a 20% stake in Standard Bank.   (Getty Images)
A Chinese customer outside an ICBC branch. China's state-owned bank announced that it will purchase a 20% share in South Africa's largest lender.   (Getty Images)
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