ACGBF Agricultural Bank of China (PK)

   By Kane Wu 
 

HONG KONG--Chinese state lender Postal Savings Bank of China Co. has tapped five investment banks to lead its up to $10 billion initial public offering, which is expected to be the largest deal of its kind in Hong Kong this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

China's sixth largest lender by assets has picked Bank of America Merrill-Lynch, China International Capital Corp. (3908.HK), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), J.P. Morgan & Chase Co. (JPM) and Morgan Stanley (MS) to lead the IPO, the people said. UBS Group AG (UBS), which is an investor in Postal Savings Bank, wasn't picked to help underwrite the deal, they said.

The Chinese bank's initial public offering would be the latest of China's big state banks to debut overseas. China's "big four" banks--Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. (1288.HK), Bank of China Ltd. (3988.HK), China Construction Bank Corp. (0939.HK) and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (1398.HK)--are all listed in both Shanghai and Hong Kong. Postal Savings Bank of China has more than 40,000 branches across China, which is twice the size of ICBC's branch network, the largest bank in China by assets.

The bank raised $7 billion from a star-studded roster of investors ahead of its IPO last month. It sold a nearly 17% stake to a group including foreign investors UBS, J.P. Morgan Chase, International Finance Corp., Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Singapore firms DBS Bank Ltd. and Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd.

Write to Kane Wu at kane.wu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 27, 2016 04:00 ET (09:00 GMT)

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