Harbin Bank has joined a clutch of city commercial lenders on the mainland to make plans for a stock market listing that is likely to raise 10 billion yuan (HK$12.25 billion) via a dual Hong Kong-Shanghai initial public offering.
The bank, based in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province that borders Russia, has kicked off its IPO plan by appointing managers for the deal, which include China International Capital and China Merchants Securities, two people with knowledge of the fund-raising plans say.
Harbin Bank is the latest among nearly 30 city commercial banks to chase a share offering after the securities regulator suspended A-share IPOs by them in 2007.
The size of the fund-raising could amount to about 10 billion yuan, but no clear-cut time frame has been set yet. The bank hoped to complete the exercise next year, one source said.
Calls to the bank yesterday went unanswered. Harbin Bank has 13 outlets and 24 rural lenders. Net profit was 1.7 billion yuan last year.
Analysts said it was among the few quality city commercial banks and was hungry for fresh funds to fuel expansion. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) approved Bank of Beijing, Bank of Nanjing and Bank of Ningbo to launch IPOs on the A-share market in 2007 before suspending approvals for a fourth city bank, though financing demand from small banks has increased greatly in the past five years.