PICC Group plans $2bn Shanghai share offer

Reuters reports that PICC Group, parent of the nation’s biggest non-life insurer, said it plans to sell shares in mainland China as it seeks fresh funds to expand, in a deal valued at about $2 billion. PICC Group’s listing in China would come more than four years after the company went public in a $3.1 billion offering in Hong Kong. The shares posted gains initially and peaked in mid-2015, but have since tumbled, trading 43% below its high two years ago. People’s Insurance Company (Group) of China, as the company is formally called, said late on Tuesday that it plans to sell not more than 4.6 billion shares in Shanghai, pending approvals from its shareholders and Chinese regulators. The deal would be equivalent to 10% of PICC Group’s enlarged share capital after the offering.