International Business Machines, the world's largest information technology services provider, plans to join a Citigroup-led group and buy 5 per cent of Guangdong Development Bank (GDB), sources close to the deal said.
IBM will join the consortium led by Citigroup, the world's largest financial services provider, in the 24.1 billion yuan bid to buy a controlling stake of the troubled Guangdong lender, the sources said. 'IBM has been involved for some time and it's just finally got out into the public domain,' one of the sources said.
The Citigroup-led group is competing with bids led by French investment bank Societe Generale and state insurer Ping An Insurance. Sources earlier said that the Citigroup consortium had won approval from the State Council.
However, no final agreement has been signed and talks on the details are continuing. Societe Generale argues that it still has an outside chance of winning with a lower 23.5 billion yuan.
IBM declined to comment while Guangdong Development Bank could not be reached for comment.
'It is strange for IBM, a technology company to buy a Chinese bank,' said a person working for a global consulting firm on Chinese banking industry.