Shenzhen Development Bank Co. and its shareholders have been sued by Newbridge Capital Ltd for breaching an agreement to sell a certain amount of shares to the US investment fund.

The Shenzhen-listed lender said Friday in a statement that Newbridge has filed a suit against four of the bank's shareholders and itself, seeking damages for violations of pacts signed between the two parties.

The four Shenzhen Bank shareholders include Shenzhen Investment Management Co, Shenzhen International Trust & Investment Co and Shenzhen Social Security Co.

Shenzhen Bank started talks with Newbridge to sell 15 percent of its shares to the investment fund last year. However, the lender ended negotiations in May by calling off a management committee set up to monitor the transition period of Newbridge's investment in the bank.

Richard Blum, co-chairman of Newbridge, said that there were no price reasons for Shenzhen Bank to halt the talks on the stake sale to Newbridge.

"The price we offered was fair as Shenzhen Bank carries high NPL amount and low provisions on the bad loans," said Blum.

The non-performing loan ratio in Shenzhen Bank stood at 8.92 percent at the end of September, compared with 10.29 percent at the beginning of this year.

The lender's third-quarter profit fell 2 percent to 85.9 million yuan (US$10.4 million).

Meanwhile, industry sources revealed that the reason Shenzhen Bank halted the talks was the involvement of a Taiwan financial institution which also has interests in buying shares of the lender.

"Shenzhen Bank has promised us that we are the top choice for their overseas equity infusion plan," Blum said.

The publicly traded lender has already hired lawyers to answer the suit by Newbridge, said the statement.

Although the plan to buy Shenzhen Bank stake has been halted, Newbridge is still optimistic on the banking market on China's mainland.

"There are business opportunities in the Chinese banking market, especially in the consumer banking sector," said Blum.

Banks on the Chinese mainland have increased lendings to individual clients as they apply for more auto loans and mortgages to buy houses amid the country's rapid economic development.

(Shanghai Daily November 2, 2003)