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Ping An has no fund-raising plan for SDB buy -paper

Thu Jun 18, 2009 8:45pm EDT

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SHANGHAI, June 19 (Reuters) - China's Ping An Insurance (601318.SS) (2318.HK) will fund its planned purchase of a stake in Shenzhen Development Bank (SDB) (000001.SZ) from internal resources and has no near-term fund-raising plans, the official China Securities Journal said on Friday, quoting Ping An's president.

Ping An said last week it would buy Newbridge Capital's stake in mid-sized Shenzhen bank for 11.45 billion yuan ($1.68 billion) in cash or via a share swap and would pay up to 10.7 billion yuan for up to 585 million shares in the bank in a private share placement, leaving it with a stake of as much as 30 percent.

"The company's internal resources are sufficient to fund the purchase. Ping An's capital adequacy ratio and pay-out ability can still meet regulatory requirements after the deal," the paper quoted Ping An President Louis Cheung as saying.

"We currently have no fund-raising plans," Cheung added.

Ping An rattled China's stock market early last year when it announced plans for a massive $22 billion equity offer, contributing to a slump in the benchmark index, although the offer was not carried out.

The insurer's planned purchase of the Shenzhen Bank stake is part of an ambitious target of building a financial conglomerate in China with banking, asset management and insurance as its three pillars of business.

But Ping An, hit by a 22.79 billion yuan impairment loss last year on its investment in Dutch-Belgian financial group Fortis (FOR.AS), has since said it would take a cautious stance on foreign investments. ($1=6.834 Yuan) (Reporting by Fang Yan and Edmund Klamann)



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