People’s Insurance Group of China (PICC), which owns China’s largest general insurer, is hoping to raise US$1.6 billion in a long-delayed Shanghai listing.
In the case that the listing pushes through, it would be the largest mainland China flotation so far in 2018.
The insurer plans to issue up to 4.6 billion A-shares in a Shanghai initial public offering (IPO) which will bring in more than RMB10 billion (US$1.59 billion), reported Reuters. PICC said in a Hong Kong stock exchange notice that the transaction seeks to replenish its capital levels.
According to an anonymous source, the IPO is expected to happen in June or July of this year.
A potential 2018 mainland listing comes four years after PICC went public in a US$3.1 billion IPO in Hong Kong. PICC will become the fifth Chinese insurer to be listed on both the Hong Kong and a mainland stock exchange. It will follow China Life Insurance, Ping An Insurance Group, China Pacific Insurance Group, and New China Life Insurance Co. The five insurers are among the largest insurance companies in the country.
A domestic listing has reportedly been in PICC’s plans for several years, but changes in China’s listing regulations and temporary banning of IPOs due to a turbulent stock market climate had caused it to be shelved.
“The domestic stock market has stabilised since last year. It is a good time to return to the A-share market now,” one of the sources told Reuters.
According to a prospectus posted on the Chinese securities regulator’s website, China International Capital Corp Ltd, Essence Securities, CITIC Securities Co Ltd, and Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities will act as underwriters for the IPO.
