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CCB in talks to buy Taifook

(China Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2009-11-13 08:57

China Construction Bank (CCB), the nation's second largest lender, is in talks to buy control of Taifook Securities, to give it a solid footing in Hong Kong's lucrative retail securities market, a source close to the deal said yesterday.

NWS Holdings Ltd, the parent company of Taifook Securities, said in a posting to the Hong Kong stock exchange late on Wednesday that it was in talks to sell its 61.86-percent interest in Taifook, but did not disclose a buyer.

Taifook shares jumped nearly 13 percent yesterday after media reported that the potential buyer could be CCB.

CCB International (CCBI), the Hong Kong-based investment banking unit of CCB, had been talking with NWS Holdings about taking over Taifook for a long time, according to the source.

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"Price is the major issue," said the source, who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the deal.

CCBI was likely to succeed in acquiring Taifook eventually, thus strengthening its brokerage business and expanding local customer base, the source said. The purchase would help to round out CCB's investment banking operation in Hong Kong, where many mainland companies are traded on the local bourse.

"Buying Taifook Securities would be a good supplement to the two business segments," the source said.

Taifook had 1,016 employees and 11 retail outlets in Hong Kong and one in Macao as of the end of June.

Taifook and NWS spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.