China Merchants Bank, China's sixth-largest bank by assets, saw the shares in its Hong Kong initial public offering priced at US$1.10 each, raising US$2.4 billion, the Wall Street Journall reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The Shanghai-listed bank, which set an indicative share-price range of between US$0.94 and US$1.10, sold 2.2 billion shares. Fund managers and analysts say China Merchants Bank has one of the best business strategies among Chinese lenders, adding it operates more like a privately run, for-profit institution and has less nonperforming loans than China's Big Four banks. As such, its shares were priced higher than those of its peers at 2.39 times the bank's 2006 book value. China Construction Bank was priced at 1.95 times book value ahead of its October listing, while Bank of China was priced at 2.18 times book value ahead of its June float.
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