Construction Bank to launch world's biggest IPO
Shares in China Construction Bank (CCB) will
start being traded in Hong Kong on Oct. 27 following the bank's global launch of
this year's biggest initial public offering (IPO), according to a leading
financial newspaper. The IPO may reach 7.7 billion US dollars, the newspaper
reports.
Shares in China Construction Bank (CCB) will start being traded in Hong Kong on Oct. 27 following the bank's global launch of this year's biggest initial public offering (IPO), according to a leading financial newspaper. The IPO may reach 7.7 billion US dollars, the newspaper reports.
------------
The CCB IPO -- expected to raise 6.1-7.7 billion US dollars -- is also the biggest-ever of any Chinese enterprise, eclipsing another mainland bank, Bank of Communications, which offered shares at 1.6 times book value in its 1.9 billion US dollar IPO last June.
The paper reported that CCB board chairman Guo Shuqing was busy launching his bank's roadshow for institutional investors in leading US and European financial hubs ahead of the bank's retail share sale.
Citing sources familiar with the CCB move, the paper said that shares for institutional investors, accounting for 95 percent of the bank's planned total, have been fully booked. "Considering the hot market response, the CCB may price its shares at the upper end of the range."
------------
Bank of America, a "strategic CCB investor," has already poured an investment of 2.5 billion dollars into the bank and said it would invest another 500 million dollars to maintain its 9 percent stake in CCB when it is listed.
The total investment of Temasek Holdings Ptd Ltd., the investment arm of the Singaporean government, would reach 2.47 billion dollars for a 5.1 percent stake, according to Securities Journal.
------------
In 2004, CCB's pre-tax profits reached 50.22 billion yuan (6.19 billion dollars). Its capital adequacy ratio, being a measure of its available capital in proportion to its outstanding loans, reached 11.29 percent -- significantly above the international 8 percent requirement.
Phew! The Chinese have learned to play on Wall Street’s sidewalk.
Posted: Mon - October 10, 2005 at 08:41 PM