(Agencies/China Daily)
Updated: 2007-10-11 10:03

China Minsheng Banking Corp plans to issue convertible bonds this year to fund acquisitions and is still keen to list in Hong Kong in the first half of 2008, sources said yesterday.

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Beijing-based Minsheng Bank, a mid-sized lender partly owned by Singapore's Temasek Holdings, plans to apply to Chinese regulators to issue 20 billion yuan of local currency-denominated convertible bonds, the sources said.

On Monday, Minsheng Bank announced it would buy 9.9 percent of San Francisco-based UCBH Holdings for more than $200 million in the first investment by a mainland commercial bank in a US bank.

Last month, Minsheng Bank said it planned to pay 2.34 billion yuan for a stake in Shaanxi International Trust & Investment Corp, as it wanted to expand in the country's trust sector, once in deep financial trouble.

"The bank is becoming very aggressive on acquisitions both at home and abroad, so they need money to carry out these deals," said one of the sources, who declined to be identified.

"A Hong Kong listing is still on its board's working agenda but there are lots of things to prepare for the IPO in Hong Kong and it is unlikely that the bank will finish everything this year," the source said, adding the bank aimed to list in Hong Kong in the first half of 2008.

Another source said Minsheng Bank was looking for suitable targets in Asia and Europe for complete acquisitions or stake purchases.

In China, Minsheng Bank aims to acquire small city banks or to assist rural credit cooperative unions in restructuring, as it moves to boost its nationwide network, the sources said.