Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) is unlikely to seek a foreign strategic investor before choosing to sell shares in Shanghai rather than Hong Kong, according to a mainland media report.
Agricultural Bank is the last of China's four largest state-owned banks to begin reforms that have seen each of the other big lenders receive government rescue funds, sell shares to foreign strategic investors and list in Hong Kong.
The bank would finish its financial restructuring by June and start shareholding reforms later in the year, the Securities Times reported, citing unnamed sources.
It would not invite foreign banks to take pre-listing stakes and would not sell shares in Hong Kong.
Deloitte & Touche was hired last year to conduct an internal audit and is carrying out human resources restructuring, accounting reforms and a review of all fixed-asset investment lending, according to a statement the bank released yesterday.
The statement refers to the bank's plan to 'restructure as a single entity and list publicly at an opportune time', without giving further details.
'If ABC were to list in Hong Kong, they would probably need to find a foreign strategic investor to gain the market's confidence, but it is unlikely any such investors would be interested in buying into this bank,' Moody's analyst May Yan said.