One of Spain's largest banks is making a push into China, a market with growing trade links to Latin America. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA took a minority stake in two units of China's Citic Group, the <i>Wall Street Journal</i> reported. The US$1.27 billion deal makes BBVA the first Spanish bank to tap into China's retail banking market. The bank bought a 5% stake in Beijing-based Citic Bank and a 15% stake in Hong Kong based Citic International Financial Holding. It paid 3.3 times book value for the stakes, higher than what other banks have paid in other Chinese banks. BBVA has an option to acquire an additiona 4.9% stake in China Citic.
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