GE falters in Shenzhen Development Bank bid

Shenzhen Development Bank (SDB) is no longer selling a 7% stake to General Electric citing "relevant regulations," suggesting that the sale was not approved by industry regulators, AP reported. The cancelation may have been due to the fact that stake's pricing, based on 2005 levels, is well below the current value of SDB's stock, which violates a new rule that private share sales must be at least 90% of the selling company's recent share price. The two companies still have an ongoing cooperation agreement on SDB's consumer credit business. SDB's growing revenue from loans and services helped its third quarter net profit to rise by 65% in 2006, according to a company statement.