Mainland lender Jiangxi Bank eyes $7.79b Hong Kong IPO

Citic Guoan Group and Dianrong are cornerstone investors.

Bloomberg reports that Jiangxi Bank Co., a commercial lender in Eastern China, is seeking to raise as much as $7.79b in a Hong Kong IPO that has drawn state-owned Citic Guoan Group and Dianrong’s investment unit as cornerstone investors.

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Zhonghua Financial Holdings Ltd. and insurer FTLife Insurance Co. have also committed to buy stock in the deal. Such cornerstone buyers typically agree to hold shares for a period of six months in exchange for guaranteed allocation.

Jiangxi Bank’s flotation is set to add to the US$4.6b raised through Hong Kong first-time share sales in 2018, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The total funds raised via IPOs in Hong Kong hit US$725m in the first half of the year, according to law firm Baker McKenzie, as a greater number of issuers embrace domestic exchanges as their listing destinations. 

The strong momentum of Hong Kong IPO market is expected to continue over the coming months as the massive reforms introduced by the bourse operator HkEx kick into effect, Baker McKenzie added.

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