Postal Savings Bank of China Co (中國郵政儲蓄銀行), moving closer to the world’s biggest share sale this year, will seek listing approval this week for a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) that could raise about US$8 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The Beijing-based bank plans to seek approval from the Hong Kong bourse today, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.
Postal Savings Bank, which has more outlets than any listed lender, aims to list as early as next month, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this year.
Postal Savings Bank reported an 11 percent increase in first-quarter profit as it pared provisions for bad loans, according to prelisting documents filed with the exchange.
The lender has also plunged into shadow-banking arrangements that could make investors question its reputation as sleepy and safe.
Postal Savings Bank’s prelisting documents disclosed 953 billion yuan (US$143.26 billion) of interbank investments in “special purpose vehicles,” which can include holdings of wealth management products, trust investment plans, asset management plans and securities investment funds. The holdings are up more than 500 percent since 2013.
Separately, Anbang Insurance Group (安邦保險集團), the Chinese owner of New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel, has asked banks to pitch for role on a planned Hong Kong IPO next year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The Beijing-based insurance giant asked investment banks to submit proposals by the end of this week, one of the people said.
The listing might include Anbang’s domestic life-insurance operations as well as many of its overseas businesses, two of the people said.
Anbang is considering first raising funds through a pre-IPO private placement in the coming months, according to one person.
The proposed listing would be an important step forward for Anbang’s transparency, shedding some light on the insurer’s ownership structure while also providing an offshore war chest to fund further expansion.
Anbang has been the most active overseas dealmaker among Chinese insurers, announcing at least US$13.5 billion of acquisitions during the past two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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