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Mumbai:
US financial services giant Citigroup Inc is all set
to sign an agreement to take control of China''s Guangdong
Development Bank, reports quoting banking sources said.
The
deal will give Citigroup and partners China Life Insurance
Co and IBM access to 500 banking outlets in a market with
14.5 per cent annual loan growth rate.
Citigroup
bid for about $3 billion beating rivals Societe Generale
SA and China''s Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. in the 16-month
race to acquire 85 per cent of Guangdong Development.
New
York- based Citigroup will purchase 20 per cent of the
company, based in Guangdong province bordering Hong Kong.
London-based
HSBC Holdings Plc and Bank of America Corp. of Charlotte,
North Carolina, are among overseas firms that have spent
more than $17 billion in the past two years to buy stakes
in Chinese banks.
Though
the bank is saddled with bad loans the opportunities it
offers are a bigger draw. Bad loans accounted for 21.9
per cent of total lending at the end of 2003, the latest
figure from the company.
Guangdong
Development will receive about 60 billion yuan ($7.6 | 
