China's Haitong Securities has agreed with NWS Holdings Ltd. to bid for the 61.86 percent stake NWS holds in Tai Fook Securities, the Oriental Morning Post reported Monday.

Haitong Securities, the second largest broker in China, offered HK$5 per share, a little bit higher than the closing share price of Tai Fook Securities at HK$4.85 last Friday. The transaction is expected to cost Haitong Securities HK$3.5 billion.

Tai Fook Securities, founded in 1973, went public on the Hong Kong stock market in August 1996. The Hong Kong brokerage now has several hundred institution clients and over 120,000 individual investors in Hong Kong and Macao. Tai Fook set up two representative offices in Beijing and Shanghai and six investment consultative centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Xiamen.

Source: china.org.cn

Editor: Ben