CCB to launch world's biggest IPO
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-10-10 20:56

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.

CCB plans up to US$7.64b in IP0

CCB has been declining to comment, but media reports about its overseas market listing abound.

Monday's edition of China Securities Journal, run by Xinhua News Agency, covers the bank's listing details, saying the shares will be priced in a range of 1.80-2.25 Hong Kong dollars (23-29 UScents) and that the CCB share trading number on the Hong Kong stock exchange is 0939.

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 busylaunching 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 thehot market response, the CCB may price its shares at the upper end of the range."