At last the fate of Guangdong Development Bank is known. Last month the bank, based in southern China, accepted a $3.1 billion bid for an 85.6% stake from a consortium led by Citigroup. The bid beat off a rival one put forward by another group, led by French bank Société Géneralé, and ended 16 months of uncertainty.
For Citigroup, whose own stake in GDB will be 20%, the outcome will come as a great relief. The bank is already paying catch-up against some of its rivals in China, most notably HSBC, which has a 19.9% stake in Bank of Communications, the mainland’s fifth-biggest lender. Failure in its bid for GDB would have left a massive hole in Citigroup’s emerging markets, nay global, strategy – one that it might have struggled to properly fill. ...
