Bank 'in talks' to buy into S. African lender

One of the nation's major State-owned banks is in talks to buy a stake in South Africa's second largest lender FNB, a source told China Daily.

"The bank, a State-owned one, has been negotiating with FNB for a long time, but it's unlikely to take a stake as high as ICBC's in Standard Bank," the source, who declined to be named, said.

The banking regulator approved ICBC's acquisition of a 20 percent stake in South Africa's Standard Bank in February. ICBC paid $5.6 billion for the stake - the biggest overseas investment by a Chinese firm and the biggest foreign investment in Africa.