Baosteel to buy rural bank stake

Source: Xinhua | 2017-09-20

SHANGHAI-LISTED Baoshan Iron & Steel Co will acquire a 10 percent stake in Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank Co for around 4.6 billion yuan (US$699 million) as it diversifies into banking, the steel producer said yesterday.

It will buy the stake from Australia and New Zealand Banking Corp, and Baosteel (Baoshan Iron & Steel Co’s parent) hopes the investment will help it “win more profit in non-steel business,” according to its statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The stake is worth around 4.6 billion yuan.

Baosteel said, in a recent interview, that the planned investment is worthwhile.

SRCB, which plans to list by mid-2019, reaped 5.9 billion in net profit last year, up 5 percent from a year earlier. SRCB, a government-backed bank with a registered capital of 5 billion yuan, has nearly 350 outlets.