Bank of America to sell China construction bank stake

Bank of America will sell its entire stake in China Construction Bank (CCB) for around $1.5 billion, a report said Tuesday, exiting an investment it made eight years ago. The US lender is selling two billion Hong Kong-listed shares in China's second biggest bank at between HK$5.63 ($0.73) and HK$5.81, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Bank of America initially paid $3 billion for a 10 percent stake in CCB in 2005 but sold most of it off two years ago in a bid to improve capital and shed assets unrelated to traditional banking, Dow Jones said. The announcement comes after CCB reported its first-half net profit rose 13 percent due to higher interest income and commissions, Dow Jones said. The US bank's shares in the Chinese lender are worth between $1.45 billion and $1.50 billion, according to a term sheet seen by AFP. It owned about a one percent stake in CCB before Tuesday.