China Minsheng Banking Corp will kick-off the roadshow today for what looks set to become the largest Hong Kong initial public offering so far this year. The privately controlled Chinese bank, which is already listed in Shanghai, is seeking to raise between HK$28.2 billion and HK$31.5 billion $3.6 billion to $4.07 billion.
While the size looks somewhat ambitious, given the recent increase of volatility in global equity markets and growing concerns that rising interest rates may dampen the global economic recovery, sources say investors are quite keen on the Chinese banks as proxies for the Chinese growth story. Minsheng is also being offered at a quite sizeable discount to most...