ABC attracts Mid-East funds
By Michael Flaherty and Kennix Chim |
June 22, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Kuwait Investment Authority has invested US$800 million in the Agricultural Bank of China, two sources said yesterday, giving Middle East funds a big slice of ABC's likely record US$23 billion initial public offering.
The same sources confirmed a weekend report that the Qatar Investment Authority agreed to invest US$2.8 billion in ABC, a bigger-than-expected sum that gets underwriters closer to their goal of raising around US$6 billion through cornerstone investors in the planned Hong Kong offering.
Excluding over-allotment shares, the bank, founded in 1951 as the rural unit of the Chinese central bank, hopes to raise around US$12 billion through its Hong Kong offering and around US$11 billion through a listing in Shanghai.
ABC and the sovereign funds were unavailable for comment. The sources are directly involved with the deal, but could not be named as the information is not yet public.
Non-Chinese investors cannot take part in Chinese mainland IPOs, but international corporations and funds can buy into ABC, China's third-largest lender with US$1.4 trillion in assets, through the Hong Kong H-share offering.
That list now includes European banks, Hong Kong tycoons and United States agricultural conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland, said other sources involved in the deal.
The parent company of state-run consumer group China Resources Enterprise Ltd will invest US$200 million in ABC, another source familiar with the matter said yesterday.
"If investors take a long-term investment view, I think ABC can provide a very attractive return," said Patrick Yiu of CASH Asset Management.
Yiu said short-term investors will likely get burned if ABC prices at a higher-than-expected valuation.
The ABC, run by Xiang Junbo, had hoped to raise US$30 billion through its dual-market initial public offering, but the mainland's share markets have dropped by a fifth, forcing the bank to scale back its fund-raising.
Anything over the US$21.9 billion raised by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in 2006 would make it the world's biggest IPO.
To attract a wide variety of investors across Asia, ABC also plans to launch a public offer without listing in Japan, one of the sources said.
The ABC has nearly 24,000 branches and employs over 441,000 staff. It has 320 million customers.
The same sources confirmed a weekend report that the Qatar Investment Authority agreed to invest US$2.8 billion in ABC, a bigger-than-expected sum that gets underwriters closer to their goal of raising around US$6 billion through cornerstone investors in the planned Hong Kong offering.
Excluding over-allotment shares, the bank, founded in 1951 as the rural unit of the Chinese central bank, hopes to raise around US$12 billion through its Hong Kong offering and around US$11 billion through a listing in Shanghai.
ABC and the sovereign funds were unavailable for comment. The sources are directly involved with the deal, but could not be named as the information is not yet public.
Non-Chinese investors cannot take part in Chinese mainland IPOs, but international corporations and funds can buy into ABC, China's third-largest lender with US$1.4 trillion in assets, through the Hong Kong H-share offering.
That list now includes European banks, Hong Kong tycoons and United States agricultural conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland, said other sources involved in the deal.
The parent company of state-run consumer group China Resources Enterprise Ltd will invest US$200 million in ABC, another source familiar with the matter said yesterday.
"If investors take a long-term investment view, I think ABC can provide a very attractive return," said Patrick Yiu of CASH Asset Management.
Yiu said short-term investors will likely get burned if ABC prices at a higher-than-expected valuation.
The ABC, run by Xiang Junbo, had hoped to raise US$30 billion through its dual-market initial public offering, but the mainland's share markets have dropped by a fifth, forcing the bank to scale back its fund-raising.
Anything over the US$21.9 billion raised by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in 2006 would make it the world's biggest IPO.
To attract a wide variety of investors across Asia, ABC also plans to launch a public offer without listing in Japan, one of the sources said.
The ABC has nearly 24,000 branches and employs over 441,000 staff. It has 320 million customers.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
