AIA listing values firm at $20bn
AIA Group could raise up to $20bn (£12.5bn) when it launches an initial public offering (IPO) later this month in Hong Kong, making it the world’s third largest IPO in history.
US insurer AIG’s Asian unit said it would initially offer 5.86bn shares at between HK$18.38 (£1.48) and HK$19.68 each, or up to $15bn.
But it could still issue up to 8.08bn shares if the listing proves popular, with investors exercising a so-called “greenshoe” option which would bring the total to $20.6bn and leave AIG with a stake of 32.9 per cent. Meanwhile, it also revealed the sale would result in $308m in fees for the 11 banks involved, making it a bumper year for Asian investment banks. Shares in AIA will be offered this week with trading expected to begin on 29 October. AIG, is looking to repay US taxpayers after a government bailout in 2008.
It was forced to look again at listing AIA in Hong Kong after the collapse in June of Prudential’s $35.5bn takeover bid for the company.
Earlier this year, Agricultural Bank of China raised a total of $22.1bn from an IPO, exceeding the previous record set by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which raised $21.9bn in 2006.
“This IPO serves as a great catalyst for the next and exciting phase in the AIA’s history,” Mark Tucker, group executive chairman and chief executive officer, said.