IFC to buy stake in Minsheng Bank

Orient Group, a private conglomerate run by Chinese tycoon Zhang Hongwei, is to sell a 1.22 per cent stake in China Minsheng Banking Corporation to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for US$23.5m.

The sale is intended to speed up co-operation between the two parties and promote the bank's internationalisation. Last year the IFC, the World Bank's private finance arm that holds stakes in other Chinese banks, said it wanted to increase its planned stake in Minsheng from 2 to 5 per cent.