Fox Pitt Kelton Ltd

I told you it was coming......

Taiwan's Fubon Financial will acquire 55 per cent of International Bank of Asia (IBA) from Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corp for $2.37 billion, marking the third local bank acquisition in just over a month.

Fubon, Taiwan's second-largest financial services company, will pay Arab Banking $3.68 per share - or 1.16 times book value.

China Construction Bank (CCB) is expected to be the first among China's Big Four state banks to go public, following a mandate that could be issued as early as the fourth quarter of this year, according to bankers and economists.

In November last year, heads at three of the Big Four - Bank of China (BOC), CCB and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China - said they planned to list by 2005.