BBVA, the second-largest bank in Spain, has announced that it would increase its holding stake in China Citic Bank (CNCB) from 10% to 15% for about 1 billion euros (1.58 billion dollars).

According to the statement issued by the Spanish stock exchange officials, BBVA will buy additional 4.93% of Citic for about HK$6.45 per share.

The bank said in a statement that the purchase would take BBVA’s interest to 15%, at the cost of around 1 billion euros.

While talking to reporters, a spokesperson of BBVA said, “Increasing the Citic stake would continue the bank's strategy of expanding in areas where it already had a presence -- China, Latin America and the United States.”

According to analysts, “BBVA's recent 2 billion euro convertible bond issue, together with organic capital generation, means that it would unlikely need to hike capital to pay for its expanded China play.”

The Spanish bank said that its investment in Citic now totals around 3 billion euros.