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Agricultural Bank eyes $13b dual listing

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-23 13:58

Agricultural Bank of China, the country's second largest bank by assets, will begin marketing its dual listing plan in March, aiming to raise at least HK$100 billion ($12.8 billion), South China Morning Post reported on Monday.

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The Beijing-based lender, the last unlisted member of China's big four lenders, will bring a dual Shanghai and Hong Kong listing to the market by the last quarter of this year at the earliest, but the offering is more likely to occur in the first quarter of next year, the newspaper said, citing sources.

Agricultural Bank of China will invite investment banks to a "beauty parade" in the first two weeks of March to seek mandates to underwrite and distribute the new share issue, the newspaper said. It gave no further listing details.

The plunge in global markets last year led to a near-halt in listings worldwide. But some smaller listing hopefuls have recently revived plans despite weak sentiment.