Strategic investors have applied for US$2.3 billion of the A-share portion of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's (ICBC) IPO, the Financial Times reported. Headed by insurer China Life, which together with its Hong Kong-listed arm has put in for US$510 million in shares, 23 domestic companies and financial institutions have expressed a wish to buy in as strategic investors. Of the potentially US$5.8 billion A-share offering, ICBC has said it will allocate as much as 53% to strategic investors, with 23% going to institutions and the remainder to investors. This does not factor in the implementation of a clawback provision. In contrast, corporate placements for ICBC's Hong Kong offering – where tycoons and foreign investment agencies commit to hold a portion of shares for a set period of time – are worth US$3.9 billion, just 23% of the US$16 billion the bank is expected to raise.
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