Belgian financial group KBC Group plans to sell the stake in its Chinese fund venture to Hong Kong-based asset manager Value Partners Group, writes Reuters. Value Partners plans to buy KBC’s 49 percent stake in Shanghai-based KBC Goldstate Fund Management Co, whose business has shrunk four-fifths over the past five years, writes Reuters.
Reuters – Belgian financial group KBC Group SA plans to sell the stake in its Chinese fund venture to Hong Kong-based asset manager Value Partners Group Ltd, two sources with direct knowledge of the deal said on Wednesday.
Value Partners plans to buy KBC’s 49 percent stake in Shanghai-based KBC Goldstate Fund Management Co, whose business has shrunk four-fifths over the past five years, the sources, who declined to be identified because they are not allowed to talk to the media, told Reuters.
The two parties have reached a basic agreement but the deal has yet to be finalised, they said.
The size of the deal is still unclear, though some analysts expect Value Partners may agree to pay at par value, meaning the deal could be worth around 75 million yuan ($11.88 million).
KBC had been actively looking for buyers for its struggling China fund business, as part of a strategy by the banking and insurance group to scale back its global presence after being hit by the 2007-2008 global financial crisis.
For Value Partners, the deal would give it direct access to China’s $350 billion mutual funds industry.
A Value Partners spokeswoman declined to comment. KBC Goldstate cannot be reached immediately for comment. ($1 = 6.3150 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Samuel Shen, David Lin and Kazunori Takada)
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