Goldman Sachs and private equity firm Warburg Pincus are among the investors nearing a deal to buy an up to 20 percent stake in China Huarong Asset Management Ltd for about $2 billion, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Other companies preparing to invest in China’s biggest bad debt manager include Malaysian state investor Khazanah Nasional Bhd, China state-backed CITIC Group, China International Capital Corp, conglomerate Fosun Group and China state-backed COFCO Corp, the people added.
The seven investors are likely to sign an agreement over the next month, the people said.
China Huarong had about $65.7 billion under management at the end 2013, making it the nation’s biggest bad debt manager ahead of China Cinda Asset Management Co Ltd, which raised $2.8 billion in an Hong Kong initial public offering last year.
CICC, Fosun, Goldman Sachs and Warburg Pincus declined to comment. COFCO, CITIC and Khazanah did not immediately respond to calls and emails seeking comments. The sources declined to be identified as the information is not public.
A person answering the telephone at Huarong’s Beijing headquarters said nobody at the company could comment on the story.
(Reporting by Stephen Aldred and Lawrence White; Additional reporting by Elzio Barreto, Saikat Chatterjee and Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Denny Thomas)
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