At US$11.2b following a 15pc increase, lender's float ranks fourth in the world
Bank of China, the mainland's second-largest lender, has exercised its option to increase the size of its share sale by 15 per cent to US$11.2 billion, making it the world's fourth-largest initial public offering.
The bank yesterday said Goldman Sachs, UBS and BOC International, the bookrunners of the flotation, would sell a further 3.83 billion shares at the offering price of $2.95.
The move has raised the share of BOC's enlarged share capital sold to investors to 11.35 per cent from the original 9.96 per cent.
The sale was heavily oversubscribed by both retail and institutional investors.
The BOC offering is surpassed only by the US$18.4 billion share sale by Japan's NTT Mobile Communications in October 1998, the US$17.4 billion share offer by Italy's Ente Nazionale per l'Energia Elettrica in October 1999 and Deutsche Telekom's US$13 billion listing in November 1996.
However, BOC will not hold the honour for long. The offer is expected to be topped by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's initial share sale, which could come to market as early as September. The mainland's biggest lender hopes to raise at least US$12 billion on positive market conditions.