China Construction Bank to Buy European Bank: RBS or Commerzbank?

On 16 September 2012, China Construction Bank (CCB) announced that it would use up to $15 billion dollars to buy a stake (30%-50% stake or full acquisition) in a European bank. CCB chairman Wang Hongzhang said he would target banks in France, Germany and the United Kingdom. He indicated that some of the European banks are "on sale". The most interesting candidates are to be found in the partly nationalised banks, because it allows the government to reprivatise the banks. This way, the treasury is allowed to recoup its investment after having bailed out the banks during the economic crisis. The likely candidates are Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds (LYG) and Commerzbank (CRZBY.PK). Today the U.K. government controls a 82% stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and a 41% stake in Lloyds. The German government holds a 25% stake in Commerzbank. If this deal were to go through, it would shatter the $5.5 billion record held by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) for its purchase of a 20% stake in South Africa's Standard Bank in 2007.

We will go through the numbers, the earnings and choose which bank will be the likely target.

Find out here.