LISBON (AFP) - Portugal said Thursday it had picked Chinese conglomerate Fosun to buy up to 80 per cent of the insurance arm of public bank Caixa Geral de Depositos, as part of EU-IMF ordered privatisation drive.

Fosun will pay one billion euros (S$1.72 billion) for the unit, junior minister Manuel Rodrigues said after a cabinet meeting.

It beat out US investment fund Apollo Investment for the deal.