BEIJING, May 25 -- Bank of China Ltd. (BOC), the country's second-largest
bank, has raised US$9.7 billion after pricing its initial public offering (IPO)
near the top of its indicated range, sources familiar with the deal said
yesterday.
The heavily oversubscribed deal will expand to US$11.1 billion after
exercising an over-allotment option, the sources said.
BOC's share sale, which the sources said was the world's fourth-biggest,
surpasses the US$9.2 billion raised in October by rival China Construction Bank
to be the nation's largest ever.
"The pricing meeting was short. BOC could have priced the deal at the very
top end with the strong order book," one source said.
The deal has attracted orders worth US$152 billion, with the retail portion
76 times subscribed and the institutional part 12 times covered.
BOC attracted retail orders worth HK$291 billion (US$37 billion), making it
the city's most popular IPO ever.
As a result, the retail portion has been increased to 10 percent of the
IPO, the world's largest from a financial institution, from 5 percent.
After the clawback, and excluding the shares earmarked for 12 cornerstone
investors as well as Singapore state agency Temasek Holdings, the international
portion of the IPO was 18 times covered, sources said.
(SD-Agencies)
