| At a glance: Deal type: US$9 billion initial public offering (including greenshoe) Issuer: China Construction Bank Joint bookrunners: CICC, CSFB, Morgan Stanley Date: November 2005 |
The China Construction Bank’s initial public offering, which began trading in November 2005, is probably the obvious choice for Asian deal of the year and for that reason alone it was tempting to scour the region for one that was more worthy. However, CCB’s massive issue merits the award for reasons beyond its size.
The metrics are simple: CCB was the largest Chinese IPO ever, the largest IPO in the world in 2005, the eighth-largest IPO of all time and the largest financial sector IPO ever.
But CCB was talismanic for other reasons. That the IPO was listed solely in Hong Kong is itself significant; it would have been impossible five years ago and is testament to how far the capital markets have developed in Asia.
CCB was also the first of China’s four large state-owned banks to be listed. Given the scale of the bank privatization task facing the government, not just in terms of size but also in the economic significance of the sector, a successful deal was vital.