Bank of China IPO hearing to be held Friday
(MarketWatch)
Updated: 2006-06-06 06:49
China's securities regulator late Monday said it would hold a hearing Friday
on Bank of China Ltd.'s (3988.HK) domestic initial public offering.
Investors put
application forms into the collection box for the initial public offering
of Bank of China before the deadline in Hong Kong May 23, 2006. Bank of
China is expected to price its IPO, worth up to $9.8 billion, at or near
the top of its indicated range, but turbulent global markets could have
curbed retail oversubscription levels.
[Reuters] |
The hearing puts the bank on track
to become the first major IPO since the domestic stock exchange in May reopened
to new listings.
Bank of China listed shares in Hong Kong last Thursday, raising $9.7 billion
in the world's biggest IPO since 2000. During the next few weeks, underwriters
at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), UBS AG (UBS) and Bank of China International
are expected to exercise options that could bump up the total amount raised to
$11.2 billion.
In its Hong Kong IPO prospectus, Bank of China said it intended to pursue a
domestic A-share listing "as soon as practicable." The bank said it would list
no more than 10 billion newly-issued A-shares, raising up to CNY20 billion ($2.5
billion).
Bank of China spokesman Wang Zhaowen declined to comment on the hearing or
the bank's domestic IPO plans when contacted late Monday.
The IPO hearing would put Bank of China on schedule to complete its domestic
listing by late June or early July.
Before reopening the market to new listings last month, China had placed a
moratorium on domestic share offerings since May 2005 while already-listed
companies underwent share reform to float non-tradable shares.
With the domestic exchanges closed, Bank of China and its rival, China
Construction Bank Corp., have chosen to list shares in Hong Kong. Bank of
China's domestic IPO will make it the first of China's Big Four banks to float
shares domestically.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission approved CAMC Engineering Co. in
May to become the first new IPO since lifting the ban on domestic offerings.
CAMC Engineering Co. opened subscriptions for its 60-million share offering to
retail investors Monday.
China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.91% Monday to close at
1684.62.
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