Shanghai Pudong Development Bank yesterday confirmed it was in talks to sell a stake and conduct strategic cooperation with China Mobile and its subsidiary.In a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the mid-sized bank said trading of its shares would remain suspended as the plans needed further consideration.
The bank, partly owned by Citigroup Inc, halted trading of its shares on Friday after announcing it may bring in a new strategic investor.China Mobile also said in a statement yesterday that it was in preliminary discussions on a potential subscription of new shares in Pudong Bank.
The world's biggest mobile phone operator by number of subscribers said it could not give a timetable of the subscription and the transaction may or may not proceed.The deal would raise the bank's core capital adequacy ratio to more than 10 percent, the note said.
A note from Guotai Jun'an Securities said last week that the bank would raise 40 billion yuan (US$5.86 billion) via the sale of 2.2 billion shares, or a 20 percent stake, to China Mobile.
