Newbridge to the mainland

摘要

After a two-year courtship that veered from friendly negotiations to broken promises and an ugly international lawsuit, Newbridge Capital, a feisty American private-equity firm, has beaten the world's biggest financial institutions to become the first foreigner to gain control of a Chinese bank. HSBC, Citigroup, Standard Chartered, the Asian Development Bank and the IFC, the private-sector arm of the World Bank, have also been scrambling to buy stakes in mainland lenders. But so far only Newbridge has managed it. Because individual foreign holdings in Chinese banks are limited to 20%, New-bridge will buy only 18% of Shenzhen Development Bank (SDB) from the government of Shenzhen, a boomtown bordering Hong Kong, for a reputed $150m. But the deal, sealed on May 31st, permits the Americans to appoint a majority of the 15-strong board. They will thus be able to run SDB, the main bank in the city.