中國郵儲銀行啓動上市前融資 China Postal attracts pre IPO backers

Postal Savings bank of China has quietly launched a fundraising that will let foreign and domestic investors take a 15 per cent stake, ahead of the group’s $25bn initial public offering next year — in a sign of government confidence that it has stabilised the Chinese equity market.

在明年舉行規模達250億美元的首次公開發行(IPO)之前，中國郵政儲蓄銀行(Postal Savings Bank of China)悄悄啓動了一輪融資，將把15%的股份出售給國內外的投資者。這表明，中國政府相信它已穩住了中國股市。

Investors taking part in the pre-IPO capital raising include the Singapore state investment fund Temasek, Swiss bank UBS, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and the IFC arm of the World Bank, according to people familiar with the plan.

知情人士表示，參與這輪上市前融資的投資者包括新加坡政府投資基金淡馬錫(Temasek)、瑞士的瑞銀(UBS)、加拿大養老金計劃投資委員會(Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board)和世界銀行(World Bank)旗下機構國際金融公司(IFC)。

UBS is expected to place its stake with other investors, which may include Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, the people added. Mr Li’s spokesperson declined to comment.

該人士補充道，瑞銀預計會把自己所獲股份出售給其他投資者，包括香港大亨李嘉誠(Li Ka-shing)。李嘉誠的發言人拒絕置評。

Other investors — including some local private equity firms — may be added to the list before it is finalised in December.

在這輪融資於12月敲定之前，其他投資者——包括部分國內的私募股權機構——可能會被加入上述名單。

Their investments are being made at a price that values the state-owned bank at just over one times book value — at a time when most other Chinese banks are valued at a discount to book value, reflecting concerns over the quality of their accounting and loan books.

這些投資者入股的價格，略高於這家國有銀行的賬面價值。目前，中國其他銀行的股價大多低於賬面價值，說明市場對這些銀行的會計和貸款賬目質量感到擔憂。

Analysts also suggested that China’s decision to go ahead with a listing of the bank next year, at a valuation of up to $25bn, showed that regulators believe the worst is over for the mainland’s stock market. Since hitting a 12-month high on June 12, the Shanghai Composite Index has fallen 33 per cent.

分析師還暗示，中國決定推動郵儲銀行明年上市，表明監管層認爲中國內地股市最艱難的時刻已經過去了。自6月12日創下12個月高點以來，上證綜指已下跌了33%。

“The market is now at fair value, the deleveraging is finished, commodities are cheaper, and corporate earnings will improve as interest rates come down, reducing the burden of debt servicing,” said the head of one local asset management firm in Beijing.

“股市目前處於公允價值水平，去槓桿過程已結束，大宗商品便宜了。隨着利息下降減輕償債負擔，企業的利潤將得到提升，”北京的一家中國資產管理公司的負責人表示。

Postal Savings Bank has attracted widespread investor interest because it has the cheapest funding cost of any bank in China, and a stronger balance sheet than most rivals.

郵儲銀行引起了投資者的廣泛興趣，原因是它是中國資金成本最低的一家銀行，而且其資產負債表比大多數同行都要強健。