Xinhua September 30, 2009

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world's largest by market value, announced late Tuesday it had reached an agreement with Bangkok Bank of Thailand to buy a 19.26-percent stake in Thailand's ACL Bank.

Under the agreement, the ICBC would acquire the stake held by Bangkok Bank at 11.5 Thai baht (0.343 U.S. dollars) per share.

The ICBC said it would also make a tender offer to all other ACL Bank shareholders.

Other shareholders included the Thai Finance Ministry, to which the ICBC is due to make a tender offer by November. The ministry holds a 30.6 percent stake in ACL Bank, according to a Bloomberg report Tuesday.

ICBC chairman Jiang Jianqing said this deal would expand the bank's businesses in the Mekong River regions and southeast Asia.

He also said the ICBC would make efforts to promote economic and trade cooperations between China and Thailand.

Bangkok Bank, established in 1994, is the biggest commercial bank in Thailand with total assets exceeding 50 billion U.S. dollars. It holds 19.26 percent stake in ACL Bank, whose total assets stood at 1.87 billion U.S. dollars at the end of June.

The ICBC is the largest by market value and profits in the world. Total assets stood at 11.4 trillion yuan (1.67 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of June.