China Development Bank joined the ABN deal

--Barclays said yesterday that China Development Bank, a Chinese government-controlled lender, plans to invest at least €2.2 billion ($3.04 billion) and up to €9.8 billion for a stake in Barclays of at least 3.1% and as much as 8%, if Barclays's bid for ABN succeeds and if regulators approve. --China Development, headed by Chen Yuan, has an extensive portfolio of Chinese customers it can introduce to Barclays for more complicated financial products and services that China Development doesn't provide, such as asset-management services. China Development's main business is lending to Chinese government-owned companies, a number of which are doing big business overseas, and as Chinese companies expand into places like South Africa, Barclays hopes to capture the banking business behind those deals. --Given China Development Bank's role in infrastructure and China's booming demand for commodities such as metals, Barclays plans to provide expertise in hedging commodities. The British bank, for example, will put employees on the ground to provide training and assist in infrastructure buildout. --China Development Bank's planned stake in Barclays PLC could become the largest overseas investment by a Chinese company to date, and underscores the growing role China Inc. is playing the global corporate arena. --China Development's stake will be the larger of the two: it will buy up to 2.2 billion euros of new shares in Barclays initially, amounting to a 3.1% stake, Barclays said. China Development will then buy as much as €7.6 billion worth of additional Barclays's shares, if the British bank's bid succeeds for ABN Amro Holding NV – and if the deal wins regulatory approval, Barclays said. If the whole deal is completed, China Development would spend a total of $13.5 billion for its stake in a newly enlarged Barclays, dwarfing other overseas deals by Chinese institutions.