ICBC acquires Fortis Bank

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China's largest State-owned commercial bank, said it had signed an agreement with financial services group Fortis to purchase its Hong Kong-based subsidiary Fortis Bank.

The purchase price was 1.05 times Fortis Bank's net assets, and would be paid in cash and with a 9% stake in ICBC (Asia), the Hong Kong flagship of the acquirer.

The ICBC did not disclose the price, but said total assets of ICBC (Asia), which now owns Fortis Bank, increased to HK$97.3 billion (US$12.4 billion) from HK$66.2 billion (US$8.5 billion) after the purchase.

That makes ICBC (Asia) Hong Kong's sixth largest bank in terms of assets, instead of the tenth previously.