BEIJING, May 23 -- Bank of China had to print up an extra 100,000 copies of its prospectus and 1 million more subscription forms for its US$9.9 billion initial public offering next month in Hong Kong - expected to be the world's biggest IPO in six years.

    People in Hong Kong formed long lines on sidewalks outside bank branches last Thursday when the Chinese mainland's No. 2 lender began offering local investors 1.28 billion shares in the IPO, set to debut on June 1 on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The retail tranche closes today.

    The bank initially printed 250,000 copies of its prospectus and 3 million subscription forms, said a businessman close to the deal.

    But potential investors quickly snapped up most of the materials, and the bank had to print an additional 100,000 copies of its prospectus and 1 million more subscription forms, said the businessman, who could not be identified because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media about the deal.

    Some analysts say the bank is a good investment because it's one of the top lenders in mainland's booming economy. They point out that other big mainland banks that recently had IPOs in Hong Kong have seen their share prices shoot up.

    Last week, BOC's institutional tranche was reportedly between five and six times oversubscribed.

    BOC planned to price the shares tomorrow ahead of its listing. They were priced at an indicative range of HK$2.50 (32 US cents) to HK$3, valuing the shares at about 1.9 times to 2.2 times current book value.

    Singapore's Temasek Holdings, UBS AG (UBS) and a consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC have purchased strategic stakes in the mainland lender worth a total of US$5.1 billion.

    Other corporate investors include Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, China Life Group and Bank of East Asia Ltd.

    The IPO plans to raise US$9.9 billion - and could eventually hit US$11.4 billion with the greenshoe, or an extra 15 percent of shares that could be sold a few weeks later.

    That would make the listing the world's largest since a US$10.6 billion IPO by AT&T Wireless Services Inc on April 26, 2000.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily)