Bear Stearns held talks to sell stake to China: WSJ

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. BSC.N has looked at selling part of itself to China Citic Group or setting up a joint venture with the state-controlled company, The Wall Street Journal said on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

But after Blackstone Group (BX.N) sold a nearly 10 percent stake to China for $3 billion, other Wall Street firms have been pursuing similar deals, so Chinese investors may have more attractive options than investing in Bear, the newspaper said.

Bear Stearns said on Sunday Warren Spector, co-president and co-chief operating officer, had resigned, as turmoil in the subprime market spurred the collapse of two Bear Stearns-managed funds and forced the investment bank to halt redemptions on a third.

Bear Stearns said on Friday it was weathering the worst storm in financial markets in more than 20 years. Standard & Poor's changed the outlook on the investment bank's debt ratings, signaling a higher chance of a downgrade over the next two years.

Last year, Bear Stearns held talks with China Construction Bank Corp. (0939.HK) about taking a minority stake, to give Bear more capital and a foothold in China, but those talks broke down after CCB's then-president, Chang Zhenming, left the bank, the Journal said.