Madrid - Spanish banking giant BBVA said Friday it will sell half of its stake in Chinese lender CNCB for $1.64bn to strengthen its capital base.
BBVA, Spain's second-biggest bank by market value, said it was selling the 4.9% stake to one of China's biggest real estate firms, Xinhu Zhongbao, via Swiss bank UBS.
The deal will leave BBVA with a 4.7% stake in China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited (CNBC) with a net capital gain of €400m for the Spanish bank, it said in a statement.
The move, subject to regulators' approval, will strengthen BBVA's capital position in line with stricter norms imposed on the banking sector after the recent financial crisis.
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria has big operations in the United States and Latin America as well as Europe, but has begun to reduce its presence in China lately.
It first took a share in CNCB in the mid-2000s but sold off a 5.1% stake in 2013.
In December it also sold a 30% share in another Chinese finance group, CIFH.