ICBC plans IPO in HK, Shanghai
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-09-06 15:54
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest lender,
plans to sell about US$19 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) in Hong
Kong and Shanghai, a Hong Kong newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The
South China Morning Post cited sources as saying the Beijing-based bank would
sell 53.1 billion shares, or 16 percent of its enlarged share capital.
The IPO would be the world's largest, ahead of NTT DoCoMo's US$18.4 billion
share sale in 1998.
The Chinese bank will sell 35.4 billion H-shares in Hong Kong. Five percent
of the H-shares will be earmarked for retail investors, while the remainder will
be sold to international institutions, with a 15 percent over-allotment option
that could boost the number of H-shares to 40.7 billion, the paper said.
The bank also plans to sell 17.7 billion yuan-denominated A-shares to
investors in the mainland, the paper added. It gave no further listing details
or time schedule of the IPO.
Also on Wednesday, state media quoted a senior official of China Life
Insurance Co. Ltd. as saying the country's top life insurer expected to invest
in more banks, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of
China.
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