China Everbright Bank HK IPO at HK$3.98

BEIJING -- China Everbright Bank Co Ltd, which is conducting an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, said Friday night that it had determined its IPO price at HK$3.98 (51 US cents) per share.

That is close to the middle of the IPO price range -- between HK$3.83 to HK$4.27 per share -- which was set earlier by China Everbright, the country's 11th biggest bank by market capitalization.

Based on the offer price, the net proceeds from the global offering of 5.08 billion H-shares are estimated to be around HK$19.6 billion.

The share offer of China Everbright Bank, already listed in Shanghai, is expected to be largest IPO in Hong Kong this year.

The IPO is expected to raise the bank's capital adequacy ratio by one percentage point from the current 9.65 percent, according to the bank's vice president Lin Li.

It was the lender's third attempt at listing in Hong Kong. In August 2011, China Everbright Bank was forced to scrap its first attempt, due to the outbreak of the euro-zone debt crisis. In May 2012, it suspended a second IPO attempt amid a bearish market in Hong Kong because of the US fiscal cliff.

Shares of China Everbright are scheduled to begin trading on Dec 20 on the main board of the Hong Kong stock exchange.