Postal Savings Bank IPO seeks up to $8.1b

Postal Savings Bank of China Co is seeking as much as $8.1 billion in a Hong Kong initial public offering starting on Wednesday, which could become the world's biggest share sale this year.

The Beijing-based bank is offering 12.1 billion shares at HK$4.68 ($0.6) to HK$5.18 apiece, the bank said on Tuesday evening. Cornerstone investors, who commit to hold their shares for six months, agreed to buy about $5.9 billion of stock, accounting for 76 percent of the offering at the midpoint of the marketed range.

The price range values Postal Savings Bank at about 1 to 1.1 times its net assets at the end of March this year, a person with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. Mainland lenders listed in Hong Kong trade at a median 0.88 times their latest book value, data compiled by Bloomberg show.