Bank of Communications, China’s fifth-largest commercial bank by assets, has agreed to buy a controlling stake in Brazil’s Banco BBM, the latest in a string of overseas acquisitions by Chinese banks and brokerages.
Bocom said it would pay R$525m ($173m) in cash for an 80 per cent stake in unlisted Banco BBM, based on the bank’s book value of R$576m. Bocom had total assets of Rmb6.6tn ($1.1tn) at the end of March.
Although it is the first overseas acquisition for Bocom, Chinese financial institutions are not opposed to snapping up assets abroad, having spent a total of $4.8bn on 30 overseas deals in 2014, following $5.1bn in deals in 2013.