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S.Bank eyes Africa deals in mining, energy

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Fri Jul 17, 2009 4:34pm IST

* Working on deals with China's ICBC

* Sees "huge interest" in Africa from China

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By Serena Chaudhry

JOHANNESBURG, July 16 (Reuters) - Standard Bank (SBKJ.J) is working on deals in Africa with its Chinese partner in mining, oil and gas and infrastructure as part of its drive into emerging markets, Chief Executive Jacko Maree said on Friday.

Africa's biggest bank by assets sees "huge interest" in the continent from China and hopes to capitalise on its partnership with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (1398.HK) (601398.SS), which owns 20 percent of the South African bank.

"We are working on a number of transactions with ICBC. Clearly the things you would expect are in the areas of oil and gas, mining and infrastructure in particular," he told Reuters Television in an interview.

ICBC bought the stake in Standard Bank in 2008 as part of a plan to bring together Chinese capital and Standard's expertise in emerging African markets.

Maree said in June it was working with ICBC on about 60 deals on the African continent.

The two firms said in May they would finance the expansion of a coal power station in Botswana for $825 million over 20 years. The deal was the first major transaction between Standard Bank and ICBC, and was backed by a guarantee from Botswana's ministry of finance.

Maree said that deal "gives a sense of the type of transaction we are looking at".

Standard Bank has also received a $400 million credit line from the World Bank's private sector branch to fund trade in sub-Saharan Africa.

Many Chinese companies are state-backed, giving them access to Beijing's massive funding reserves and freeing them from the need to placate shareholders.

Aside from the African continent, Standard Bank has a presence in South America and in March snapped up a 33 percent stake in Russia's No. 2 investment bank Troika Dialog.

(Editing by Rebecca Harrison)

((rebecca.harrison@thomsonreuters.com; +27 11 775 3160; Reuters Messaging: rebecca.harrison.reuters.com@reuters.net))

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: af.reuters.com) Keywords: STANDARDBANK/

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