China Minsheng Banking Corp has received approval from Chinese security regulators to hold an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong and may submit its application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this week, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the deal. The lender is said to have retained BOC International Holdings, UBS, China International Capital Corp and Macquarie Capital to lead the IPO. China Minsheng had planned a Hong Kong listing in 2005 but scrapped the plans due to poor market conditions. It will reportedly raise US$2.93 billion through the IPO. The bank said in June that it planned to sell 15% of its enlarged capital or 3.32 billion new shares in Hong Kong as a way to fund its expansion. However, as of the end of June, China Minsheng’s capital adequacy ratio was 8.48% down from 9.22% at the end of 2008 and below the 10% minimum required for Chinese banks to open branches overseas.
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