by Michael Mata
China’s largest bank by number of branches, state-owned Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) recently launched an initial public offering in Hong Kong worth up to $8.1bn, with the vast majority of the deal being covered by six cornerstone investors.
The six cornerstone investors will purchase as much as $5.86bn worth of stock on offer, which is about 72% of the initial public offering. That would place it near the record 77% cornerstone tranche for the $810m listing of China Development Bank Financial Leasing in July.
Multinational law firms King & Wood Mallesons, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, and
Clifford Chance LLP, as well as the Chinese law firm Haiwen & Partners, all advised on the IPO, which launched on September 14.
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP advised PSBC on the float on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with Haiwen & Partners acting as the Chinese counsel on the deal.
Meanwhile, “Magic Circle” firm Clifford Chance LLP advised the underwriters China International Capital Corporation, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan as joint sponsors on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, while King & Wood Mallesons acted as Chinese counsel to the banks.
Clifford Chance’s team was led by Tim Wang, China co-managing partner, with Hong Kong partners Amy Lo and Fang Liu. The team was supported by Singapore-based Jean Thio.
According to a term sheet seen by Reuters, PSBC is offering 12.1 billion new shares in an indicative range of HKD4.68 to HKD5.18 each.
