Business Activities News
- U.S. firms vie for stake in Wangfujing
Date: 30-Jan-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
LEADING U.S.-based private equity investors Warburg Pincus and Carlyle Group are in a battle for a stake in a top domestic retailer with lucrative property assets, according to a China Daily report.
The two U.S. investors have been competing with more than 18 other foreign firms for a stake in Shanghai-listed Beijing Wangfujing Department Store (Group) Co. since the first half of 2006, the newspaper said.
Wangfujing now runs 15 department stores in local downtown areas across the country, the report said, adding that foreign investors may acquire only 25 percent of the shares.
'Most foreign investors wanted to gain control of Wangfujing ... but the Beijing Municipal Government refused to lose control,'the newspaper said.
The Beijing Municipal Government now holds 50.13 percent of Wangfujing through its wholly-owned company Beijing Beikong Commercial Investment Co., the report said.
Carlyle, whose bid for a 60 percent stake in Wangfujing was reportedly rejected by the local State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, has appointed its merger and acquisition group to take charge of negotiations.
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