Bank of China gets key approval for HK IPO0 n! j- f) m7 ^9 N8 G0 E3 ^
Bank of China, China's top foreign exchange lender, has secured key approval from the State Council to launch a HK$60 billion (US$7.7 billion) Hong Kong initial public offering in the first half of 2006, a Hong Kong newspaper reported on Monday.The listing plan awaited a final approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the South China Morning Post reported, citing sources close to the situation.
3 N: F. o5 L% }5 z5 Z! s' ~ The bank may file a preliminary listing application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as soon as this week, the paper added.
% _7 |. i+ y9 ~/ z2 K The offering, which Bank of China previously planned to complete before April, was now most likely to be launched in May, the paper quoted the sources as saying.$ w! w% s3 ?( W/ S
The offering would value the bank at 400 billion yuan (US$49.6 billion), the paper said. |