【英语中国】农行香港发行最高可融资130亿美元

Agricultural Bank of China last night took a step closer to launching the world's biggest initial public offering when it set a price range for the shares it plans to sell to international investors in Hong Kong.

Agricultural Bank, the last of China's big lenders to go public, plans to sell 25.4bn shares in Hong Kong for HK$2.88-HK$3.48 each. The offering could raise as much as $13bn but only if the shares sell at the top of the range and underwriters on the deal trigger a “greenshoe” option to increase the size of the offering by 15 per cent.

Last night, the bank had not decided on a price range for the 22.2bn shares it plans to sell in Shanghai, although Chinese media were reporting that the range would be Rmb2.60-Rmb2.70. At that price, Agricultural Bank's dual listing could raise as much as $23bn, exceeding the record $21.9bn that Industrial and Commercial Bank of China raised in 2006.

However, analysts say that Agricultural Bank, considered to be the weakest of the country's big lenders, might have to settle for a price towards the lower end of the range.

The price range set for the Hong Kong portion of the IPO would give the shares a price-to-book value, a widely watched metric of bank valuations, of 1.55 to 1.79, lower than many of the bank's Hong Kong-listed peers.

The Chinese lender had hoped to raise as much as $30bn in the IPO but expectations have sagged in recent weeks as global markets have weakened. The Shanghai stock market has fallen about 20 per cent since mid-April on worries about the economy and concern that a flood of bank fund-raisings will hit the market simultaneously.

昨晚，中国农业银行(Agricultural Bank of China)确定了在香港面向国际投资者发行股票的价格区间，朝着全球最大IPO又再迈近了一步。

作为中国最后一家上市的大型银行，农行计划在香港发行254亿股，发行价区间为2.88-3.48港元。假如以上述区间的上限发行，且承销商启动“绿鞋”选择权（即超额认购权），将招股规模扩大15%，此次招股将可融资130亿美元。

昨晚农行没有确定在上海的发行价区间，但据中国媒体报道，这一区间将介于2.60-2.70元人民币。农行计划在上海发行222亿股。按这一价格计算，农行的两地上市最多将可融资230亿美元，将打破中国工商银行(Industrial and Commercial Bank of China)在2006年创下的219亿美元的纪录。

但分析师表示，被认为是中国大型银行中最糟糕的农行，可能不得不把发行价定在上述区间中的较低水平。

按照IPO香港部分所定的价格区间，农行股票的市净率（一个广受关注的衡量银行估值的指标）将介于1.55-1.79，低于在港上市的许多银行。

农行原本希望通过IPO融资最多300亿美元，但近几周随着全球市场走弱，该行的预期值也有所下降。自4月中旬以来，上海股市已下跌20%左右，投资者担心经济走势，也担心一大批银行融资计划将同时冲击市场。

译者/杨远