Update | Hong Kong snares world’s largest IPO this year with Postal Savings Bank’s US$8.1 billion offer
Hong Kong was the destination for three of the world’s 10-largest IPOs so far this year
Postal Savings Bank of China, which operates more branches in the country than any other bank,plans to raise as much as US$8.1 billion in an initial public offer, choosing to raise capital on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The bank, operating 40,057 branches in mainland China, plans to sell 12.1 billion shares at an indicative price range of between HK$4.68 and HK$5.18 per share, raising between US$7.3 and US$8.1 billion.
The amount raised makes Postal Savings Bank the fourth-largest Chinese bank to raise capital, and places its IPO at number 25 among the list of the world’s biggest stock offers to date, according to Bloomberg data.
The Beijing-based bank is mainland China’s seventh-largest lender, with loans of 2.7 trillion yuan (HK$3.13 trillion).
Postal Savings Bank’s chairman Li Guohua said at a Hong Kong press briefing that the bank will plough 10 per cent of its future net profits into dividends.
“Of course we’ll also take our future business needs into consideration,” Li said. “Our bank’s growth potential is high. We are confident in our future developments.”
Still, the offer attracted limited interest from overseas investors, with few making commitments to buy the shares, fund managers in Hong Kong said on Monday.
