ICBC bids for US-based Bank of East Asia

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s
largest lender by market cap, has become the first Chinese bank to
acquire a US-based retail bank, Bank of East Asia.

ICBC will pay about $140m for an 80% stake in Hong
Kong-headquartered Bank of East Asia’s US subsidiary and acquire13
branches in New York and California.

ICBC already owns 70% of Bank of East Asia’s Canadian
subsidiary, which has six branches.

This will not be the first attempt by a Chinese bank to acquire
a US-based lender.

In 2008, China Minsheng Banking Corporation (Minsheng) made a
bid to increase its 9.9% stake in United Commercial Bank (UCB),
based in California, to become a majority shareholder, but US
regulators rejected the deal.

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