Bank of America exits China bank holding with $1.5bn sale

Bank of America Corporation (BofA) began selling its remaining stake in China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) on Tuesday for up to $1.5 billion, according to terms seen by Reuters, marking the final step of the U.S. bank’s multi-year exit from the asset. The U.S. bank’s investment in CCB dates to 2005 when it paid $3 billion for a 9.9 percent stake ahead of the Chinese’s bank’s initial public offering (IPO) of stock. BofA increased its holdings in following years before paring them down beginning in 2009. In 2011, the banak raised $14.9 billion from selling CCB shares to a group of investors. BofA joins a list of Western banks that have found that their investments in Chinese financial firms did not provide the strategic benefits they had sought. Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs sold out of its seven-year investment from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.