LONDON – The Spanish lender BBVA said on Friday that it had agreed to sell a 4.9 percent stake in China Citic Bank to the Chinese real estate developer Xinhu Zhongbao for 13.1 billion Hong Kong dollars, or about $1.7 billion.
Following the deal, BBVA will continue to hold a 4.7 percent stake in China Citic Bank, the Spanish bank said in a statement.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter.
BBVA said it expected to book a net capital gain of about 400 million euros, or about $462 million, from the sale and increase its common equity Tier 1 capital by 20 basis points.
The capital ratio is a measure of the lender’s ability to weather financial turmoil.
In 2013, BBVA previously sold a 5.9 percent stake to the Citic Group, the Chinese bank’s parent company, for €944 million.