Citigroup fighting for mainland deals

Citigroup on Thursday sought to become one of the underwriters for the planned US$5bn international share offer by the Bank of China. Citibank's move seemed to confirm the US investment bank's exclusion from the rival offering of China Construction Bank. The seven other would-be underwriters for CCB's IPO included Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Bank of China International (BOCI), BOC's own offshore investment banking unit. The Mainland's second-biggest bank may choose as many as four investment banks next week to help it market its public offering next year.