Bank of America has shelved a $3bn sale of China Construction Bank stock following objections from Beijing, igniting fears that some overseas investors could struggle to offload their lucrative holdings in China’s banks. BofA, which holds a 19.3% stake in CCB, last week hired UBS to help sell a chunk of HK-listed shares to reduce its CCB holding to below 17%. But hours before it was to be unveiled Monday, the share sale was pulled after a phone call between Ken Lewis, BofA chairman and CEO, and Guo Shuqing, his CCB counterpart. Dealmakers believe Beijing objected to the timing of the sale, the first such attempted divestment by a foreign investor following the expiry of a lock-in period.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Friday, December 19th, 2008 at 4:32 and is filed under Capital markets. Tagged with BofA, Ccb. Edit this entry.