Posts tagged ‘Deutsche Bank’

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12/08/2015

ChemChina, Camfin to launch tender offer for rest of Pirelli | Reuters

An investment vehicle controlled by China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) said it will launch a mandatory tender offer for remaining shares in Pirelli (PECI.MI) after on Tuesday taking control of the Italian tyremaker through a deal struck in March.

A Pirelli's tyre is pictured at the headquater in Milan, March 26, 2015. REUTERS/Giorgio Perottino

ChemChina in March agreed to become the majority owner of the world’s fifth-largest tyre manufacturer as part of a 7.3 billion euro ($8 billion) deal.

On Tuesday, Marco Polo Industrial Holding, a company created to facilitate the Chinese takeover, concluded its acquisition of a stake in Pirelli from Italian holding company Camfin, triggering the mandatory takeover bid.

A Camfin spokeswoman said the tender offer was expected to be launched in September.

State-owned ChemChina holds a 65 percent stake in Marco Polo, with the remainder in the hands of Camfin investors, who include Pirelli boss Marco Tronchetti Provera, Italian banks UniCredit (CRDI.MI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), and Russia’s Rosneft (ROSN.MM).

The tender offer will be launched at 15 euros per share with the goal to acquire all of Pirelli’s share capital and de-list the tyremaker from Milan’s stock exchange. Marco Polo also decided to launch a voluntary tender offer on Pirelli’s savings shares.

In a separate statement, Tronchetti Provera, who will remain Pirelli’s chief executive, said Camfin would invest more than 1 billion euros in the tender offer and will keep a central role in the tyremaker’s future shareholder structure, along with ChemChina.

He reiterated the Chinese investment would boost the company’s international growth, particularly in the industrial tyre sector.

“In this segment, the integration with ChemChina will allow immediate growth in volumes and market share that Pirelli alone would have taken years to achieve,” he said.

via ChemChina, Camfin to launch tender offer for rest of Pirelli | Reuters.

Posted in acquisition, China alert, Economics | Leave a Comment »

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17/09/2013

House-for-pension stirs Chinese debate on elder care

This post and another on China‘s labour force posted today illustrate how fast China is catching up with developed nations, not always for the better.

China Daily: “For 71-year-old Li Yuzhen, a life taking care of a sick husband and a mentally-disabled son in their two-bedroom apartment in the East China city of Hefei has not been easy.

The family of three nets a monthly income of 3,000 yuan ($487), but spends one third of it on medicine. They barely make ends meet with the rest of the money.

Li said they could not afford a nursing home, and she has to stay at home to look after her son, a man in his 40s but still unmarried due to his condition.

In an effort to explore elder care solutions for China’s rapidly aging society, the State Council, China’s Cabinet, vowed last week to complete a social care network for people over age 60 by 2020, when the age group is expected to reach 243 million. This group’s population had already reached 194 million by the end of 2012, giving China the largest senior population on earth.

One solution proposed is the house-for-pension program.

“The plan allows you to deed your house to an insurance company or bank, which will determine the value of your house and your life expectancy, and then grant you a certain amount every month,” said Meng Xiaosu, former CEO of Happy Life Insurance Co, Ltd.

“You can still live in your house, but the company or the bank has ownership,” Meng said.

The program, while only a suggestion, has drawn widespread concern and met with mixed views.

Zhan Chengfu, director of the division on social welfare and charity of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said the program benefits both the elderly and insurance companies and banks as it can ease elderly care fund shortages, revitalize housing resources and expand the insurance business.

According to a joint study by the Bank of China (BOC) and Deutsche Bank last year, the aging population will leave China with a shortfall of 18.3 trillion yuan in pension funds by 2013 and create a heavy fiscal burden for the country.

Zheng Bingwen, a social security researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, likened China’s pension system to a pyramid with the ground level being the basic pension pool, the middle level being companies’ supplementary pensions, and the top level being individuals’ commercial insurance. But the proportion of the total pension funds to gross domestic output is small compared to other BRICS nations.

“We need different channels to supplement funds shortage, and house-for-pension is likely to be a plausible way for elder care,” Zhang said.

However, the proposal stirred a heated public debate, especially among people whose parents have property and fear losing the inheritance.

via House-for-pension stirs debate on elder care[1]|chinadaily.com.cn.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/political-factors/chinese-tensions/

Posted in Ageing population, Change, China alert, demographics, Economics, Health, housing, income-wealth gap, Population, real estate, retirement pensions, saving | Leave a Comment »

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03/05/2013

* Credit-Card Companies Battle in China

BusinessWeek: “The Ms. Magic credit card from China Citic Bank (601998) is dotted with Swarovski crystals and offers free beauty treatments and health insurance. Huaxia Bank’s (600015) Pretty Lady card, co-issued with Deutsche Bank (DB), entices women with triple points for cosmetic purchases and fitness club memberships. Citigroup (C), which last year became the first U.S. bank allowed to issue its own solo logo cards in China, offers to waive its first-year annual fee of 300 yuan ($49) for Rewards cardholders applying before March or spending more than 20,000 yuan by the end of December.

Credit-Card Companies Battle in China

They’re all part of a battle for affluent consumers in the world’s fastest-growing market for plastic, even as delinquencies have tripled in the past five years and profits remain elusive. “Credit cards are the ultimate growth area and also the battlefield for banks in China,” says Rainy Yuan, an analyst in Shanghai for Taipei-based Masterlink Securities. “Some may never earn a profit out of it, but they have to join the fight, as that’s the most efficient way of grabbing deposits and cross-selling other financial services.”

With interest rates fixed by the government at 18 percent annually, China’s banks can’t compete by lowering rates, so they differentiate themselves by offering merchant discounts and gifts, including Coach (COH) wallets, Hugo Boss (BOSS) quilts, and free Starbucks (SBUX) upgrades to a larger coffee. Chen Junjun, a marketing manager at China Guangfa Bank, spends 10 hours a day, seven days a week trying to lure customers to his roofless booth outside a subway station in Shanghai’s Pudong district. Among the gifts he offers: a wireless mouse, storage boxes, and coffee mugs. “No annual fees, buy-one-get-one-free for Starbucks coffee, and you get a free Coach wallet, too,” Chen says to a female passerby. “If you have a job, you are qualified. If you have a credit card, you are qualified.””

via Credit-Card Companies Battle in China – Businessweek.

Posted in Affluence, China alert, Consumer, Economics | Leave a Comment »

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15/06/2012

* Deutsche Bank Makes Cross-Border Yuan Payment Under New China Central Bank Scheme

WSJ: “A pilot scheme intended to make it easier for companies to settle trade in the Chinese yuan officially kicked off Friday, with Deutsche Bank AG completing the first cross-border yuan payment transaction under the program.

The new program, launched by the Shanghai branch of the People’s Bank of China on a trial basis, aims to streamline the process for settling cross-border trade in the yuan by exempting qualified companies from submitting original trade documentation to support each payment. Information on the program has recently been circulated among banks in Shanghai, bankers said, though the central bank hasn’t yet made a public announcement on the initiative.

Deutsche Bank, one of the largest providers of liquidity to currency markets, executed the transaction on behalf of the China subsidiary of Huettenes-Albertus, a German manufacturer of foundry chemical products, under which the company paid a foreign supplier in yuan.

“In the past, settling trade in yuan has been both time-consuming and labor intensive,” said Beng-Hong Lee, Deutsche Bank’s head of foreign-exchange trading in China. “This is a big leap forward.”

The new scheme currently is limited to companies and banks operating in Shanghai. It follows the PBOC’s move in March, when the central bank expanded the use of yuan in trade settlement to exporters and importers across the country.

As China pushes ahead with its drive to spread global use of its currency, many analysts expect the yuan to account for a bigger share of international trade settlement. Beijing started to allow cross-border trade to be invoiced and paid for in its currency about three years ago, and since then, yuan-settled trade has grown to about 10% of China’s total trade. Some analysts have predicted that figure to grow to 3.7 trillion yuan ($587 billion) this year, or 15% of China’s total trade.”

via Deutsche Bank Makes Cross-Border Yuan Payment Under New China Central Bank Scheme – WSJ.com.

Another step in freeing the world economy from US $ domination.

Posted in China alert, Economics, Politics | Leave a Comment »

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