Shengjing Bank, Investors Seeking $1.4 Billion in IPO

Shengjing Bank Co., the biggest city commercial lender in northeastern China, and its investors are seeking as much as $1.4 billion from an initial public offering in Hong Kong. The company, based in Shenyang city, and its shareholders offered about 1.38 billion shares at HK$7.43 to HK$7.81 each, according to a term sheet obtained by Bloomberg News. New shares account for 90.9 percent of the offering. Shengjing Bank is following provincial and city lenders Harbin Bank Co. and Huishang Bank (3698) in going public in Hong Kong to bolster capital as the world’s second-largest economy slows and bad loans increase. The lender aims to set a final price on Dec. 18 and start trading on Dec. 29, the terms show. Five cornerstone investors, including Chow Tai Fook Nominee Ltd., agreed to buy a combined $700 million of stock as part of the IPO. Chow Tai Fook committed $100 million, while Paul Suen Cho Hung will invest $180 million, the terms show. Cornerstone investors typically agree to hold their stock for at least six month in return for guaranteed allocations in initial share sales. Shengjing Bank had assets of 355.4 billion yuan ($57.4 billion) at the end of last year, according to a pre-IPO filing yesterday. To contact the reporter on this story: Fox Hu in Hong Kong at fhu7@bloomberg.net