CCB confirms domestic IPO plan

China Construction Bank confirmed on Tuesday that it would be launching what is likely to be the mainland's largest ever initial public offering, raising up to US$7.8 billion. The bank, China's second largest by assets, said it was consulting institutional investors on pricing the offer, the South China Morning Post reported. It will issue as many as 9 billion new A-shares, which represents 3.85% of its expanded share capital. Analysts expect there to be massive demand for shares from domestic investors with subscriptions potentially coming to more than US$260 billion. But it is possible that this, and several other big IPOs set for launch before the end of the year, could end the domestic bourses' bull run by absorbing a large amount of investment funds.