Shanghai-listed Guangzhou Development Industry Holdings (GDIH) has paid 995.4 million yuan (about HK$934.48 million) for part of Citic Industrial Bank, making it the unlisted bank's first outside investor.
State-owned China International Trust and Investment Corp (Citic) has previously been the bank's sole shareholder. The GDIH deal is part of a Citic restructuring exercise to turn its subsidiaries into shareholding entities accountable to external investors.
As part of the exercise, Citic will trim its stake in the bank - China's seventh-largest with about 340 outlets - to make way for other investors to bring in fresh capital.
GDIH, a Guangzhou government-controlled infrastructure investor, yesterday announced it was taking up 630 million shares in the soon-to-be renamed Citic Bank.
It would not reveal how much of the bank it would own, but said it would be the second-largest shareholder.
Under mainland rules, the GDIH deal means the bank cannot launch its long-awaited listing plan for 12 months.