Bank of America to double CCB stake

Bank of America (BoA) will almost double its stake in China Construction Bank (CCB), Bloomberg reported. Three weeks after getting a US$15 billion boost from the US government, BoA will pay about US$7 billion to raise its stake in China’s second largest lender to 19.13% from 10.8%. It will buy shares from China SAFE Investments, a state investment arm that is CCB’s biggest stakeholder. BoA is not using its newly authorized US government bank rescue funds for this purchase. The US lender first invested in China Construction in June 2005, buying a US$3 billion stake before the lender was publicly listed. It invested another US$1.9 billion in June, and the value of its holding was US$14.5 billion, as of September 30.