BBVA Sells $1.3 Billion China Citic Bank Stake, Boosting Capital

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, Spain’s second-biggest bank by market value, sold a stake in China Citic Bank Corp. for 944 million euros ($1.3 billion) as it prepares to meet international capital requirements.

BBVA sold a 5.1 percent holding to Citic Group, the Chinese bank’s parent company, in a transaction it expects to close by the end of this year, the Spanish lender said in a statement on its website. The Bilbao, Spain-based bank will keep a 9.9 percent stake, while a charge related to a change in accounting will cut the lender’s net income by about 2.3 billion euros this year, according to the statement.