Citic Securities, China Securities dismiss report of merger plan

China Securities Co

02/07/2020 16:53

HONG KONG, July 2 (Reuters) - China's largest broker Citic
Securities Co Ltd  600030.SS  and smaller rival China Securities
Co Ltd  6066.HK  (CSC) said on Thursday they were not aware of
any information about a merger plan, following a media report
they had agreed to a tie-up. 
    Bloomberg News, citing unidentified sources, reported that
the Communist Party committees of both companies had agreed for
Citic Securities' parent, Citic Group, to buy a stake in CSC
from state-controlled Central Huijin Investment Ltd.
    That would make Citic Group the largest shareholder in CSC,
China's No.2 brokerage.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2E91XK
    In separate filings to the Shanghai stock exchange, Citic
Securities and CSC said were not aware of any information about
a merger plan.
    CSC also said it had not called a Communist Party committee
meeting to approve such a plan. 
    China's securities watchdog wants to build industry
behemoths in the face of fiercer foreign competition as the
country opens markets to Wall Street giants including Morgan
Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse.

 (Reporting by Meg Shen; Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((meg.shen@thomsonreuters.com; 852-28436901; Reuters Messaging:
meg.shen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))