Agricultural Bank raises $7.3b in bond sale

Agricultural Bank of China, the last of China’s “Big Four” lenders to list, said it raised US$7.3 billion in a corporate bond sale as part of its preparations for a listing, AP reported. The bank however, has still not provided a timetable for an eventual initial public offering. The lender’s bond sale represents the largest in China thus far. Prior to this, the record had been held by China’s Railway Ministry, which raised US$6.6 billion in a corporate bond sale in 2007. Chinese enterprises have been increasingly turning to bond sales to raise funding as the financial crisis has weakened equity markets. Chinese firms have raised US$74.6 billion in debt capital markets this year, up 234% from the same period in 2008, according to Dealogic.