Postal Savings Bank of China speeds up strategic investors’ fundraising ahead of IPO
Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) has indicated that it is speeding up the fundraising from strategic investors ahead of its planned initial public offering (IPO). The IPO is scheduled for next year and it could be worth around $25bn.
According to news published by Reuters yesterday (23 July), the bank’s Vice Governor, Xu Xueming, told journalists attending a conference hosted by the China Banking Regulatory Commission in Beijing that PSBC has been following roadmap guidance from the Chinese authorities.
The bank was restructured into a joint stock institution in early 2012 as the first step, the PSBC official said. After introducing strategic investors, the bank will go public.
“Presently, we are following the State Council, (bank) regulator and the finance ministry’s instructions to quicken the introduction of strategic investors,” Xu said.
As previously reported, UBS, Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and French bank BNP Paribas are believed to be among the preliminary bidders looking to buy up to a 10% stake in the bank.
PSBC is currently wholly owned by China Post Group Corp, the state-owned postal service and has almost 490m individual clients (although many of these are small savers from China’s rural community).
