PICC issue in HK could raise $3.6bn

China’s largest property insurer People’s Insurance Company (Group) of China set the range on its Hong Kong initial public offering of 6.9 billion shares at HK$3.42 to HK$4.03 per share, Bloomberg reported, citing regulatory filings. As a result, the company could raise as much as HK$27.8 billion (US$3.6 billion), making it the largest IPO in the city since 2010. A number of cornerstone investors have agreed to purchase shares worth US$1.85 billion, including American International Group (AIG.NYSE) taking a US$500 million stake, China State Grid taking US$300 million and China Life Insurance (LFC.NYSE, 601628.SH, 2628.HKG, 2823.TPE) taking US$100 million. “The rest depends on how aggressively they’re going to place the stock,” said Steven Leung, institutional sales director at UOB Kay Hian. “Even though we’ve seen some inflows into the market, this kind of money is not too eager to enter the IPO market.”