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ABC looking for foreign strategic investor

Published: 22 Apr 2009 23:37:30 PST

Apr. 23, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), the nation's third largest lender by assets and the last unlisted member of the country's Big Four state-owned banks, is seeking an overseas strategic investor, said Xiang Junbo, chairman of ABC, in an interview with The Asian Banker magazine published yesterday.

Xiang said that ABC will require the foreign strategic investor to commit a longer lock-up period than was required by the other domestic banks, which requested two to three years of lock-up.

ABC, which is equally held by Central Huijin Investment Corp and the Chinese Ministry of Finance, will not cut employees and outlets before its initial public offering, due to its sense of social responsibility, despite cost pressure, according to Xiang.

The lender currently employs 450,000 people and has 24,400 outlets.

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