Biz Scene: Grapevine

China Vanke purchase

China Vanke Co plans to buy a 50 percent stake in Shanghai Dijie Real Estate Co for about 2.4 billion yuan, the Oriental Morning Post reported, without saying where it got the information.

The acquisition will add about 1.1 million sq m of residential and commercial projects in Shanghai's Pudong District, the Shanghai-based newspaper said.

The companies will sign an agreement this month, it said.

London listing?

China Minsheng Banking Corp, the nation's first privately owned bank, may move its planned overseas initial public offering to London from Hong Kong to gain a higher international profile, the South China Morning Post reported, citing unidentified people.

While the bank hasn't made a final decision on where to list, some board members favor London over Hong Kong and New York, the report said. They believe London has a "less onerous compliance and regulatory regime" than New York, it said.

(China Daily 10/10/2007 page15)