ABC hires banks for Hong Kong IPO – sources

Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) has hired six banks to arrange the Hong Kong portion of the state-owned bank’s anticipated initial public offering, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. ABC, the country’s third-largest bank by assets, has employed International Capital Corp, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Macquarie Group and Morgan Stanley, the sources said, adding that the banks will meet today to commence work on the IPO. ABC could raise as much as US$29.3 billion through a combined listing in Hong Kong and on the mainland, which would make it the world’s biggest offering, beating the US$22 billion raised by Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (601398.SH; 1398.HK) in 2006.