CHINA / National |
Bank to kick off A-share offer(Reuters)Updated: 2007-04-18 09:03 Bank of Communications, China's fifth-largest lender, said on Wednesday it would invite investors to subscribe to its multi-billion dollar Shanghai A-share IPO next week. The offer would be open for subscriptions by institutional investors on Tuesday, while interested retail investors are due to subscribe to the issue the next day, the bank said in a statement. The IPO will be priced on April 26, it said, adding that funds for subscriptions from institutional investors would be released on April 27 and those from retail investors would be unfrozen on April 30. The Shanghai-based bank, in which HSBC Holdings Plc. holds a 19.9 percent stake, plans to list in Shanghai on May 15, two sources have said, raising as much as $3.5 billion based on its Hong Kong share price. Bank of Communications, already listed in Hong Kong, has said it planned to issue as many as 3.19 billion new A shares, or 6.51 percent of its expanded share capital. The bank said institutional investors would take up about 25 percent of the offer. Retail investors are expected to account for 45 percent of the issue, while the remaining 30 percent would be for strategic investors.
Strategic investors are required to hold half of their BomCom shares for 12 months and the other half for 18 months, whereas institutional investors must keep their shares for a minimum of three months, the statement said. Bank of Communications is joining a growing list of mainland firms already listed in Hong Kong that are tapping mainland's booming stock market. Its Shanghai listing will follow the debut of its smaller rival China CITIC Bank on April 27. CITIC Bank is raising up to $5.4 billion through simultaneous initial public offerings in Hong Kong and Shanghai, in the world's biggest IPO so far this year. |
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