Shares in Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, which raised US $19 billion in the world's largest IPO, rose as much as 18 percent in their Hong Kong debut on Friday - in line with expectations - after its stock sale generated huge investor demand.
The largest Chinese lender, making the first simultaneous Hong Kong and mainland China listing, leapt as high as HK$3.63 shortly after the Hong Kong market opened, compared with an IPO price of HK$3.07 - at the top of an indicative range. Market watchers expected the Hong Kong shares to rise as much as 20 percent in their debut. Its domestically listed A-shares rose as much as 10.2 percent above their offering price of 3.12 yuan to 3.44 yuan in early trade. Traders at the Shanghai Stock Exchange shouted and cheered when the Hong Kong debut price was displayed, and that caused a flurry of orders in Shanghai that briefly pushed A-shares back to morning's high.
The deal, which is expected to be increased to $21.9 billion through the exercise of an overallotment option, values ICBC at $129 billion, ranking it seventh among global banks, ahead of Wells Fargo and behind UBS AG.
"Investors foresee China's economy maintaining 10 percent growth every year before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, so they're buying mainland bank shares now to access that growth," said K.C. Chan, executive director at money management firm KDB International, which bought ICBC shares for its clients.
The stock sale was the most popular in Hong Kong and China history, and unmet demand for shares, combined with a Hong Kong market at a record close on Thursday.
The IPO, about 75 percent of which was sold to Hong Kong and global investors and the remainder in the mainland, surpasses Japan's NTT Docomo, which raised $18.4 billion in 1998, as the world's largest share sale.
China began listing its banks overseas last year, and all four of ICBC's predecessors to the market have drawn huge demand for their shares, as investors downplay worries about the legacy of decades of state-directed lending.