Banking News
- ABN Amro hopes for Huishang Bank stake
Date: 3-Jul-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
DUTCH bank ABN Amro Holding NV hopes to take a strategic stake in Chinese regional lender Huishang Bank Co. and rapidly expand its own China network, ABN Amro Asia's chief executive said Saturday.
'We would be interested in starting a strategic relationship with Huishang Bank under terms and conditions that are acceptable on both sides,'Jeroen Drost, chief executive of ABN Amro Asia, said. 'That would be something we are very interested in.'
He said ABN Amro isn't targeting a specific stake size, but rather a mutually beneficial strategic partnership.
Huishang Bank was formed in late 2005 from the merger of Hefei City Commercial Bank and several smaller credit cooperatives in Anhui Province. Under current Chinese regulations, a single foreign investor is limited to holding no more than 20 percent of a local bank.
'From our perspective, it has to be a strategic relationship,'Drost said. 'Just taking a stake from a financial perspective might be interesting, but I might as well speculate on the stock exchange then.'
'ABN Amro plans to add six outlets this year to its current 14-outlet mainland network and another six to 10 next year depending on how fast we can process the applications,'said Linda Wong, country executive at ABN Amro in China.
ABN Amro has received final approval for local incorporation of its China operations and plans to announce it today.
The expansion plans by ABN Amro into China come as Barclays PLC and a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC are competing to take control of ABN Amro.
'Asia is one of the most interesting parts in ABN Amro Bank and one of the reason why Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland are interested in ABN Amro Bank and going to pay a good price,'Drost said.
Drost said he didn't expect the merger of the bank with either of the two bidders would impact ABN Amro's China business because neither bidder has a strong organic mainland presence. Royal Bank of Scotland holds a strategic stake in Bank of China Ltd., one of China's big four State lenders.
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