The deal to sell, which was announced in December last year, was described as HSBC’s biggest divestment for 15 years and is part of a wider strategy by the group to pare down its activities in order to focus on those businesses which are delivering the fastest profit growth or which hold the most potential.
One media report said the failure of the deal would be a “blow to HSBC and an embarrassment to the various parties involved in a corporate deal which was set to be Asia’s second-largest last year”.
According to Reuters, the deal looked unlikely to complete after the state-backed China Development Bank expressed concerns over the deal’s financing. Reuters said CDB’s concerns emerged after media reports suggested that CP’s funding was coming from external sources.
