New | Citic Securities to pay HK$780m for majority stake in forex trader KVB Kunlun

Citic Securities, China’s largest brokerage by revenue, is buying a majority stake in foreign-exchange trader KVB Kunlun Financial for HK$780 million.

The Beijing-based brokerage has agreed to acquire 1.2 billion KVB shares at 65 HK cents each, representing 60 per cent of the company’s share capital, it said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday night. The proposed purchase price represents a more than 50 per cent discount to KVB’s last closing price of HK$1.37, on January 30.

Citic Securities chairman Wang Dongming said in the statement that the acquisition of KVB would further strengthen the company’s position in regional and global markets.

KVB, which engages in leveraged foreign exchange and other securities trading businesses, has been listed on Hong Kong’s Growth Enterprise Market since July 2013.

Citic Securities, the brokerage arm of state-owned conglomerate Citic Group, completed the US$1.15 billion acquisition of CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets in 2013, allowing the mainland company to quickly expand into overseas markets.

Based in Hong Kong, CLSA has 1,500 professionals in 21 Asia-Pacific cities, as well as Europe and the United States, according to its website.