The BNP Paribas will put aside $85 million to buy about 20 percent of shares of Nanjing City Commercial Bank and official agreement will be signed in Nanjing today, according to the International Finance News.

An announcement by the Nanjing commercial bank says the bank's 2nd provisional shareholders meeting held on October 9 adopted a resolution to introduce the BNP Paribas as a strategic partner. The BNP Paribas will become a shareholder of the bank by buying off existing shares, holding no less than 18 percent and no more than 19.7 percent of Nanjing commercial bank's shares. The announcement made no reference to the amount of money BNP Paribas pays.

The announcement also says the bank elected Michel Chevalier nominated by the BNP Prisbas as a member of the 4th board of directors. However, the office of director will come into effect only on the day when the transaction is completed. Besides, the Nanjing commercial bank says once the BNP Paribas buys into the stake, proportion of shares of the bank held by foreign shareholders will still be within 25 percent as stipulated by Chinese law.

By People's Daily Online