By staff reporters Chen Xue, Chen Huiying, Lu Yanzheng and Fu Yanyan

Related Article: Pumping Up Financial Holdings at Ping An

(Caijing Magazine) Seven passengers stepped off a private jet at Shanghai Pudong Airport on a day in March, climbed into cars and sped off to a secret meeting at Ping An Group's Zhangjiang office center.

The travelers represented U.S. private equity firm TPG and its Asian subsidiary Newbridge, and Zhangjiang was the chosen venue for a huge deal that left Ping An with a controlling stake in Shenzhen Development Bank (SDB).

Before the deal, TPG held the largest stake in SDB -- 17.89 percent – which it bought in 2004 with a five-year lock-up period expiring in 2009. The latest agreement means that, if regulators agree, Ping An will take over the controlling interest and get a major bank that it's long sought, eventually securing a nearly 30 percent stake.

Negotiations were tough at Zhangjiang, headquarters for Ping An's insurance, banking, assets management and investment businesses. The company's financial advisor, Goldman Sachs, used cute nicknames to mask the players in the confidential negotiations: Ping An was called "Dove," TPG was "Nightingale," and SDB's name was "Tigger." But the charm disappeared behind closed doors.

The talks ended with an agreement followed by a public announcement June 12, during which Ping An (SSE: 601318; HKSE:2318) and SDB (SZSE: 000001) jointly unveiled a share subscription agreement that lets the holding company's subsidiary Ping An Life acquire at least 370 million -- but no more than 586 million -- new shares in the bank.

The deal, which followed a week of suspended trading for Ping An stock, will raise at least 6.7 billion yuan, and as much as 10.7 billion yuan, for the Shenzhen bank.

The dealmakers also agreed that, by the end of 2010, Newbridge would have the option to sell 520 million shares in the bank to Ping An for 11.45 billion yuan, or exchange the stock for 299 million new, Ping An H shares.

The deal is more than financially significant. TPG was the first international investor with a controlling stake in a mainland commercial bank, and SDB was the first Chinese commercial bank to go public.

Ping An, one of the nation's largest insurers, operates a small bank but has waited a long time for a major banking license as part of its quest to become a universal financial holding company. With a market value of 250 billion yuan, Ping An is already ranked the world's 18th largest financial institutions by market capitalization.