Even by the Byzantine standards of business deals in China, the twists and turns in the potential collapse of HSBC’s $9.4bn exit from its stake in Ping An Insurance are exceedingly complex.
But the ultimate reason that threw the sale in doubt may be quite simple. The most plausible explanation is a change of heart by a senior Chinese official, according to bankers in China and Hong Kong.
CP Group, a Thai conglomerate with a focus on agribusiness, was announ-ced in early December as the buyer of the 15.6 per cent shareholding, much to the surprise of observers who noted that the purchase price was bigger than CP’s net assets.
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