International offering is three times covered, surpassing the previous record held by Bank of China
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which began marketing its initial public offering of up to US$19 billion yesterday, drew a record HK$300 billion in orders from international investors on the first day, market sources said.
'The orders from international institutional investors are about three times the number of shares slated for them,' said a banker close to the deal. 'More bulk orders are coming on stream and the deal is moving steadily to four times.'
The quick sale allowed the mainland's largest lender to surpass the previous record held by Bank of China, which attracted HK$234 billion worth of orders on the first day of international offering. Bank of China, the mainland's second-biggest lender, raised HK$76.8 billion on the Hong Kong exchange in May.
'Sponsors told us that ICBC's offering is so hot that its order book was fully covered in the first hour,' said one fund manager at an asset management company.
The surge of orders came after the lender set an indicative price range of between HK$2.56 and HK$3.07 a share, valuing the bank at 1.96 to 2.23 times this year's book value, lower than China Construction Bank Corp's about 2.4 times and Bank of Communications' about 2.8 times.
'I expect the shares of ICBC will soar at least 10 per cent [in its listing debut] due to its low pricing,' said Ying Yuming, a managing director at Vision Finance Asset Management who attended the investor presentation in Hong Kong yesterday.
