China Pacific gears up for Shanghai debut

China Pacific Insurance is preparing for its initial public offering on the A-share market on December 25, for which the inquiry range will be set at RMB26-31 (US$3.50-4.20) per share, according to estimates by China Merchants Securities. China Pacific will be the third insurance firm to list on the mainland exchange, and
is scheduled follow up with an IPO on the Hong Kong market soon
afterward, Xinhua Net reported (in Chinese). The company is the country's third-largest life insurer, with 10% market share, and the second-largest asset insurer after People's Insurance. The stock price of Ping'an Insurance, a competitor of China Pacific, closed at RMB120.6 (US$16.34) on Monday.