China’s Agricultural Bank completes $22.1 bln IPO, world’s largest despite market doldrums

China’s Ag Bank confirms world’s largest IPO

SHANGHAI — The Agricultural Bank of China says it raised a world record $22.1 billion in its initial public offering last month, despite a tepid reception from investors, after exercising an overallotment option for its Shanghai share sale.

The bank, China’s main rural lender, sold an additional 3.34 billion shares at the IPO price of 2.68 yuan ($0.39) per share as part of the overallotment, as expected, according to a notice Monday on the Web site of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The extra 8.94 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) raised pushed the dual Hong Kong-Shanghai IPO to $22.1 billion in total, surpassing the previous record set by the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China’s $21.9 billion IPO in 2006.

Despite strong government backing for the IPO, the last by China’s four biggest state-owned commercial banks, investors leery of the rural-oriented balance sheet and the market’s overall outlook have shown lackluster interest in the shares.

In Hong Kong, whose market is open to foreign investors, the bank’s shares rose a mere 2.2 percent on their July 16 debut, compared with double-digit gains in past years for high-profile IPOs. In Shanghai, where yuan-denominated shares are sold only to domestic buyers, the shares rose just 1 percent on their debut.

By midday Monday, the lender’s shares were up 0.7 percent, at 2.71 yuan in Shanghai and down 1.5 percent, at 3.34 Hong Kong dollars a share, in Hong Kong.