Bank of Jinzhou Said to Be Poised to Raise $794 Million in IPO

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of Jinzhou Co., a lender in northeastern China, and existing shareholders are poised to raise $794 million in a Hong Kong initial public offering, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Bank of Jinzhou, based in Liaoning province, and its owners plan to sell 1.32 billion shares at HK$4.66 apiece, near the low end of a marketed range, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The lender had offered the shares at HK$4.64 to HK$5.54 each, according to a prospectus posted to the Hong Kong stock exchange earlier.

China’s city commercial banks are seeking to replenish capital to expand out of their home bases and compete with larger, better-funded rivals. Bank of Qingdao Co.’s Hong Kong IPO raised $607 million after pricing last week at the low end of a marketed range, while Bank of Zhengzhou Co. plans to seek more than $500 million from a share sale in the city in December, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier.

Bank of Jinzhou aims to start trading Dec. 7, according to its prospectus. CCB International Holdings Ltd. was sole sponsor for the listing, while Barclays Plc was a joint global coordinator.

The lender, which was founded in 1997, had 178 outlets at the end of June including 20 located outside its home province, its prospectus shows. A Hong Kong-based external spokesman for Bank of Jinzhou declined to comment on the pricing.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fox Hu in Hong Kong at fhu7@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net Russell Ward