Share sale of securities firm fails to fetch buyers

China Minsheng Banking Corp failed to sell its 3.26% stake in Haitong Securities Co for a second time yesterday, even after asking for less than half the market price, Bloomberg reported. Minsheng had planned to raise US$458 million by selling 269 million shares of Haitong, China’s largest securities firm by market value, with a floor price set at RMB11.68 (US$1.70). Potential investors didn’t pay the margin deposit for the stake by yesterday’s deadline, according the auction house that handled the deal. Only Chinese individuals and domestic institutions were allowed to bid in the auction because of regulations, and buyers would have been required to hold the Haitong shares until November 2009.