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. (For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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