Beijing caution Sinks Boc's French Deal caution, Boc, Deal, Beijing, French

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Beijing caution Sinks Boc's French Deal
中行收购法国洛希尔银行搁浅

Bank of China's plan to buy a stake in a French private bank has collapsed after it tried to renegotiate the purchase price on the orders of the Chinese government.

La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild refused to sell a 20 per cent stake to the Chinese lender at a lower price than the ?36m ($317m) it agreed with BoC amid much fanfare in September, the French company said yesterday.

BoC said the deal was abandoned because the bank did not receive approval from the Chinese banking regulator before a deadline of March 31, after the deadline had already been extended from December 31.

In fact, the China Banking Regulatory Commission had approved the deal on the condition that BoC renegotiate the price to reflect the effects of the global financial crisis on LCF Rothschild's business, according to people close to the situation.

“The deal was based on a valuation that was nearly two years old and didn't reflect the dramatic changes that have happened in the global financial market since then,” one person said.

LCF Rothschild said yesterday that although BoC could no longer take a stake in its business, it hoped it could still provide the Chinese bank's domestic clients with financial products.

The failed investment is the latest example of Beijing's caution over offshore forays by Chinese financial institutions and comes on the heels of a string of abortive deals.

在按照中国政府的指示尝试重新协商价格后，中国银行(BoC)放弃了入股一家法国私人银行的计划。

法国爱德蒙得洛希尔银行（La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild，以下简称洛希尔银行）昨日表示，该行拒绝以低于去年9月大举宣传的与中行商定好的2.36亿欧元（合3.17亿美元）的价格，向中行出售20%的股权。

中行表示，此笔交易被放弃的原因是，在洛希尔银行已经从去年12月31日延长至今年3月31日的最后期限前，该行没有获得中国银行监管机构的批准。

据知情人士表示，实际上，中国银监会(CBRC)已经批准了这笔交易，条件是中行必须重新协商价格，以反映全球金融危机对洛希尔银行业务的影响。

一位人士表示：“（上述）协议的估值大约是两年前做出的，没有反映出此后全球金融市场发生的急剧变化。”

洛希尔银行昨日表示，尽管中行不再能够获得它的股权，但它希望仍然能够向中行的国内客户提供金融产品。

这笔失败的投资再次展示了中国政府对国内金融机构进军海外的谨慎态度，此前已经有一系列交易流产。