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Macquarie to form JV with Hengtai Securities

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-16 08:13

Macquarie Group Ltd, Australia's biggest investment bank, is planning a joint venture with Hengtai Securities Co to gain access to China's $70 billion equity and bond underwriting market, according to sources familiar with the deal.

The Sydney-based bank last week signed a memorandum of understanding with Hengtai to form a joint venture company, the people said, asking not to be identified because no announcement has been made. Macquarie would hold a 33 percent stake in the venture, they said.

Macquarie is the third foreign investment bank to sign an agreement or win approval in the past six months for a venture in China, which has 103.6 million active securities accounts.

The nation's CSI 300 Index has advanced 19 percent since reaching a two-year low on Nov 4, after the government cut borrowing costs and pledged an economic stimulus package.

"It's certainly a good thing to find a place in China's securities market because you can tap pretty decent domestic growth," said Fang Jian, a Shanghai-based partner at law firm Linklaters LLP.

Paul Scanlon, a Hong Kong-based spokesman at Macquarie, declined to comment. Chang Xiangdong, a spokesman at Hengtai Securities, said he doesn't know of any deal with Macquarie.

Macquarie will negotiate final terms in the next few months before submitting a proposal to China's securities regulator for approval, the sources said.

The venture will have registered capital of 500 million yuan ($73 million) and will seek permission to underwrite stock and bond sales, and provide financial advisory services, they said.

Overseas brokerages need local joint ventures to get permission to trade securities or underwrite sales of shares and bonds in China. Goldman Sachs Group Inc, UBS AG, Credit Suisse AG, CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets and Morgan Stanley are the only foreign firms with access to China's securities market.