Ningbo to raise 5b yuan

Bank of Ningbo Co, a Zhejiang-based regional lender part-owned by Singapore's Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp, plans to raise as much as 5 billion yuan in a private placement to augment its capital base, the bank said in a filing to the Shenzhen bourse yesterday.

The bank announced that it would sell up to 450 million shares at 11.63 yuan per share to its existing shareholders who owned at least 5 percent of the lender. The share sale will be subject to a lockup period of three years.

Youngor Group Co, a major domestic garment producer that owns 7.2 percent of the bank, said in a separate statement that it would buy up to 71 million shares through the private placement.