Bank of Beijing, one of the country's biggest city commercial banks, filed a formal prospectus with the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday for its initial public offering (IPO), saying it will issue 1.2 billion shares on September 11.
The Beijing-based bank's IPO proposal was formally approval by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the country's securities watchdog, making the bank the third city lender on the mainland to launch an IPO.
The bank said in the prospectus that the equity issue will account for 19.27 percent of its enlarged stock base.
Earlier media reports said the bank is expected to raise about 13 billion yuan (US$1.72 billion) in the IPO and the funds raised would be used to boost its capital adequacy ratio and capabilities in risk management and profit making.
The bank said in the prospectus it will issue shares in Hong Kong "at an appropriate time" after its A-share listing, but the pricing and timing is yet to be approved by its shareholders.
The lender, 19.9 percent owned by International Netherlands Group (ING), has net assets per share of 1.96 yuan before going public.
After the IPO, the ING stake will be diluted to 16.07 percent.
The bank reported a net profit of 550 million yuan in the first quarter this year, with assets totaling 263.98 billion yuan.
Its capital adequacy ratio stood at 13.23 percent and its non-performing loan ratio was 3.34 percent in the first quarter this year.
"The stock issue will help the lender conduct regional expansion as it will greatly bolster its capital," said Cheng Yicong, an analyst with Southeast Securities.
In July, the lender was given the go-ahead to launch a branch in Shanghai, its second branch outside Beijing. Its Tianjin branch opened in November.