Agricultural Bank of China is at the front of a pack of mainland lenders likely to have approached Liu Chong Hing Bank in the hope of picking up a cheap Hong Kong banking asset, according to market watchers and industry sources.
The small lender said yesterday it had received overtures 'in the past few days' from a third party for stakes held by substantial shareholders Liu Chong Hing Investment and Cosco Pacific. While the bank said it would consider the approach 'in due course', it stressed that no sale talks had taken place.
Agricultural Bank, unlike some of the other big mainland banks, has just a single branch in Hong Kong and a scattering of assets including a securities brokerage, a finance company and an insurance subsidiary.
'There is whispering in the market that Agricultural Bank of China is a buyer. It may hold such an aspiration, given that China's other big four banks have assets in Hong Kong,' one banking analyst said.
Liu Chong Hing Bank has 35 branches in Hong Kong.
'I am 90 per cent sure it's Agricultural Bank of China,' one Liu Chong Hing banker said.
