Business

CICC share change approved

By Soo Ai Peng and Ruby Lian (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-01 08:04

SHANGHAI - China International Capital Corp (CICC), the country's top investment bank, has won regulatory approval for a major shareholding change, in what State media said was a green light for Morgan Stanley to sell its stake in CICC.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement on its website that it had on Nov 26 approved CICC's application for the change that involved a stake of more than 5 percent in the company.

The regulator did not state the name of the shareholder involved, but the official Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday, without citing any sources, that the stake in question is held by Morgan Stanley.

The official China Securities Journal also said, citing "industry observers", that the approval was for Morgan Stanley's stake sale. Neither Morgan Stanley nor CICC was immediately available for comment.

Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley has long said it wanted to sell its 34.3 percent stake in CICC.

Private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and TPG Capital are expected to buy the stake for more than $1 billion, sources told Reuters in February.

Chinese media reported earlier this month that Morgan Stanley's application to sell the roughly $1 billion CICC stake would be approved by the CSRC by February 2011.

Central Huijin Investment Co, the domestic arm of China Investment Corp, the country's sovereign wealth fund, owns 43.35 percent of CICC, company data showed.

Separately, Jinling, Shanghai Belling and Feilo Acoustics, shareholders of China Fortune Securities, said they have agreed to China Fortune's plan to invest 680 million yuan ($102.1 million) in an investment bank joint venture with Morgan Stanley.

China Fortune will own two-thirds of the joint venture, the companies said in separate filings to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The companies said the joint venture plan was subject to regulatory approval.

Reuters

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