China’s Agric Bank issues the world’s largest IPO

Agricultural Bank of China  has claimed the title of the world’s largest initial public offering after fully exercising the over-allotment option of its Shanghai share offering, Dow Jones Newswires said.

The lender raised an additional 9.11 billion yuan (1.34 billion dollars) from the Shanghai portion of the IPO by selling an extra 3.4 billion shares at 2.68 yuan each, the report said, citing a person familiar with the deal late Friday.

The IPO has now raised a record 22.1 billion dollars, the report said.

The previous record was set by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which raised 21.9 billion dollars in its 2006 IPO.

AgBank — the last of China’s Big Four state banks to list — raised a total of 19.23 billion dollars from its shares before it started to trade in Shanghai and Hong Kong last month.

The bank said late last month in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it raised an additional 1.56 billion US dollars by selling extra shares in Hong Kong.

The over-allotment option, or so-called greenshoe, is a tool used by underwriters to limit a stock’s volatility for a month after it lists.

It also allows a company to sell more shares than it originally planned if demand is strong.
Source: AFP