Doors opened for foreign investors in China
Publish date: 07 February 2006
Issue Number: 1516
Diary: Legalbrief Today
Category: Labour
New rules have come into force in China that make it easier for foreign companies to buy shares in listed Chinese companies, and lawyers say this could encourage a surge in mergers and acquisitions.
The rules, reports the Financial Times, allow strategic foreign investors to purchase stakes of more than 10% of a companys A-shares, the most liquid class of shares on the mainland stockmarket, if the purchaser holds the equity for longer than three years. Howard Chao, head of the Asia practice of O\'Melveny & Myers, said there were many multinationals looking to do deals with A-share companies in China, because they tended to be more established businesses with greater economies of scale. Full Financial Times report
