Financial: Bank deal hurt by missing stock

STANDARD Bank amended an agreement to sell a stake in its global markets business to Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) because of losses related to missing aluminium. Standard Bank had agreed to sell a 60 percent stake in the business to ICBC for $765 million (R9 billion), based on the unit’s net asset value of $1.41bn at the end of June 2013. Terms had been altered to ensure “the purchase price correctly reflects the true and eventual net asset impact of the aluminium exposure”, Standard Bank said in a regulatory filing yesterday. The two also agreed to delay the closing of the deal. Standard Bank started legal proceedings in China in July after about $200m of aluminium it said it owned was held by authorities amid a warehouse inquiry. – Bloomberg