Citic completes purchase of CLSA

China’s Citic Securities (6030.HKG, 600030.SHA) on Wednesday completed the purchase of brokerage CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets from Credit Agricole (ACA.EPA) Bloomberg reported. Citic is paying US$841.7 million for the 80.1% of CLSA that it doesn’t already own and will pay about US$100 million more if it wins regulatory approval and buys CLSA’s Taiwan unit, the Beijing-based buyer said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The deal’s conclusion marks the first major acquisition by a Chinese broker of a foreign competitor.