CCB to purchase AIG's Hong Kong financial unit

China Construction Bank (CCB), the world's third largest lender by market value, inked a $70-million deal to buy a Hong Kong unit of American International Group (AIG) in a bid to obtain a firmer footing in the overseas market.

The bank will acquire 100 percent of AIG Finance (Hong Kong) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the New York-based AIG, which is expected to be transacted in October after approvals by regulators in Hong Kong and the US, said the bank in a statement yesterday.

The move is the Chinese lender's first overseas acquisition in three years after it spent $1.25 billion to buy 17 outlets of Bank of America in its Hong Kong and Macao units in August 2006.