HONG KONG, Jan 5 (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings PLC's
China securities brokerage joint venture partner is selling most
of its equity ownership, an exchange filing showed, and a source
with knowledge of the matter said the bank was expected to bid
for the stake.
State-owned Qianhai Financial Holding, which owns 49% of
HSBC Qianhai Securities, is auctioning 39% ownership of the unit
with an asking price of 1.26 billion yuan ($198 million), a
filing from Shenzhen United Property and Equity Exchange showed.
Asia-focused HSBC, which won Chinese regulatory approval https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hsbc-china-idUSKBN19L0Y8
for the joint venture in 2017, will bid for the entire 39%
stake, said the source, in a bid to expand in the world's
second-largest economy.
HSBC, which owns 51% stake in the joint venture, declined to
comment.
The auction expires on Jan. 21, according to the exchange
filing. The joint venture posted 135 million yuan ($21.20
million) loss in 2021, it showed.
The joint venture is the first foreign majority-owned
brokerage in China, gained by HSBC due to rules favouring Hong
Kong businesses.
The auction comes only nearly a week after the bank received
regulatory approval https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/hsbc-gets-approval-buy-out-china-life-insurance-joint-venture-2021-12-30
in China to take full ownership of its life insurance joint
venture.
Global banks and asset managers have been boosting their
stakes in their Chinese joint ventures since the country first
permitted foreign-majority ownership in some financial
businesses in 2019.
Morgan Stanley is also set to increase its stake in
its brokerage joint venture https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/morgan-stanley-boost-stake-china-brokerage-94-2021-12-29
in China by 4.06% to 94%, an exchange filing showed in
December, putting it on track to take full ownership of the
business.
($1 = 6.3638 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Selena Li; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and
Louise Heavens)