The lending business of state-controlled China Everbright Group may raise an estimated USD 1.5 billion when it goes public in Hong Kong, according to a Bloomberg report. The report said it came up with the amount after doing calculations based on China Everbright Bank Co's sale document filed with Japan's Finance Ministry.
Beijing-based Everbright Bank said it would be offering 3.3 billion shares in the IPO. By doing calculations based on the closing price of its shares traded in Shanghai today, Bloomberg reported that the share sale could gather CNY 9.37 billion or USD 1.5 billion.
It is the 11th biggest lender in terms of market value in the mainland. In February 2011, the board of Everbright Bank approved the sale of up to 12 billion shares abroad. The company intended to gather USD 6 billion from that offering but brought down its expectations to USD 1.7 billion. However, the IPO was postponed for August 2012 due to weak capital markets and the low valuations of bank shares, Bloomberg reported.
As of September 30, Everbright Bank holds a capital adequacy ratio of 9.65%. According to the China Banking Regulatory Commission, banks like Everbright should have a minimum capital buffer of 10.5% before the year 2018 will end, the report added.
Everbright Bank will be the third Chinese lender to list on the Hong Kong bourse this quarter. Bank of Chongqing Co was able to raise USD 548 million went it went public this October. The most recent Chinese lender to hold a Hong Kong IPO was Huishang Bank Corp which raised USD 1.2 billion in the share sale. Huishang began trading on November 12.
Bloomberg reported that shares of Everbright Bank have plunged 6.9% in 2013 in Shanghai. This is comparable to the 3% drop posted by the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index.
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