PICC Tower, part of Beijing’s Yintai office complex
Earlier deal talk put the likely offering size at US$5bn–$6bn, and bankers said PICC was unlikely to trim the deal size despite volatile market conditions. The beauty contest will be held on May 18 and the company, China’s largest non-life insurer, is aiming to wrap up the deal in Q3, possibly as soon as July. CICC, Credit Suisse and HSBC were earlier mandated to lead the deal.
State-owned PICC Group is the parent of Hong Kong-listed PICC Property & Casualty, China’s largest property insurer. IFR first reported its plans for a dual listing in July 2011, with an initial target of completing the deal by the end of 2011. It is the latest Chinese financial institution to turn to the international equity markets to replenish core capital.
PICC Group chairman Wu Yan told Reuters in March the company aimed to complete the listing in 2012.
“We are speeding up preparations for the listing and if the window is right, we hope to list earlier and of course we hope that the listing is completed by this year,” Wu said on the sidelines of an annual parliamentary meeting.
(Updates with background.)
