Bank of America reportedly selling part of its stake in Chinese bank (MarketWatch) (21-04-2008)

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- A report in the FT on Monday says that Bank of America Corp. is planning to sell part of its 9% stake in China Construction Bank to raise capital to bolster its balance sheet following the mortgage-related write-downs.

In order not to upset the Chinese bank, Bank of America plans sell down its stake and exercise options to buy more shares in China's second-largest bank at below-market rates.

Bank of America is sitting on a large paper profit from its early-stage investment in CCB, which listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2005.

The bank hasn't decided if it will sell its shares on the open market or offload them in a bloc to a strategic investor, the FT reported.

SourceMarketWatch