China Merchants Bank is looking to acquire a Hong Kong lender as it prepares for an overseas listing, according to chairman Qin Xiao.
'The only thing is there are not that many opportunities to buy at the moment as there are not that many willing sellers,' Mr Qin said at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, where he is a delegate representing the business sector.
'We need some time to analyse this and we have not discussed this internally in detail.'
Commenting on Malaysia's third-largest lender, Public Bank, paying an unexpected high price for Asia Commercial Bank last month, Mr Qin said a high price-earnings ratio was 'not a problem. The key is whether it is sustainable'.
He said Shenzhen-based Merchants Bank, an A-share listed unit of the China Merchants Group, was looking for a target with 'reasonable' valuation and branch network.
China Merchants' holding in the bank will probably drop to 20 per cent after the proposed US$2 billion H-share flotation, he added. He did not give the existing stake holding.
