Bank of Qingdao IPO Said to Raise $607 Million Priced at Low End

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of Qingdao Co., the Chinese lender backed by Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, and an existing investor raised $607 million after pricing a Hong Kong initial public offering at the low end of a marketed range, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The lender based in eastern China’s Shandong province and one of its shareholders, the National Council for Social Security Fund, sold 990 million shares at HK$4.75 apiece, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The shares were offered at HK$4.75 to HK$5.21 each, according to a prospectus posted to the Hong Kong stock exchange Nov. 20.

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 Jinzhou Co. is taking orders for a $943 million Hong Kong IPO, while Bank of Zhengzhou Co. plans to seek more than $500 million from a Hong Kong share sale next month, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier.

Hong Kong IPO fundraising is set to rise to a five-year high for 2015 as Chinese state-owned enterprises seek listings. First-time share sales in the city have already raised $28.5 billion this year, up from $18.3 billion the same period in 2014, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Bank of Qingdao plans begin trading on Dec. 3, its prospectus shows. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citic CLSA Capital Markets Ltd. are joint sponsors of the deal.

A Hong Kong-based external spokesman for Bank of Qingdao declined to comment.

To contact the reporters on this story: Fox Hu in Hong Kong at fhu7@bloomberg.net; Ben Scent in Hong Kong at bscent@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Scent at bscent@bloomberg.net Marcus Wright