Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC, 中國工商銀行) said yesterday it would raise up to 45 billion yuan (US$6.8 billion) in Shanghai and Hong Kong in a rights issue to strengthen its capital base.
The announcement comes a day after the central bank said it would raise the amount of money lenders must keep in reserve as guarantee against bad loans, the fourth such move this year, as inflation and rising housing costs persist.
The world’s largest bank by market value said it planned to sell 11.29 billion A shares in Shanghai, or 0.45 shares for every 10 existing A shares, at 2.99 yuan each, according to filings with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
It also aims to sell 3.74 billion H shares in Hong Kong at HK$3.49 each, or 0.45 shares for every 10 existing H shares. ICBC said the proceeds from the rights issue “will be used to strengthen the capital base of the bank.”
The bank first announced the rights issue in July and is going to take subscriptions from investors starting Tuesday next week. Bank of China (中國銀行) last month launched a rights issue to raise almost US$9 billion in Shanghai and Hong Kong, while China Construction Bank (CCB, 中國建設銀行) has said it aimed to raise US$9.2 billion in a rights offering.
In related news, Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings said yesterday that it would expand its stake in CCB by taking over Bank of America’s (BOA) entitlement in a rights issue.
“We can confirm that we’ll pick up BOA’s entitlement in CCB,” a Temasek spokesperson told Dow Jones Newswires.
BOA is entitled to buy 1.79 billion shares in the upcoming rights issue, which is expected to be completed early next month, the agency added. BOA owns about 11 percent of CCB, while Temasek has around 6 percent.
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