Online subscriptions for the initial public offering (IPO) of Ping An Insurance (Group) Co., of China Ltd., the country's second largest life insurer, started on Monday.

 

The insurer announced that the IPO share price will be between 31.8 yuan and 33.8 yuan.

 

The insurer has received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to issue up to 1.15 billion yuan-denominated A shares in Shanghai Stock Exchange, making it the second Chinese insurer to list after China Life.

 

Ping An is expected to raise 38.87 billion yuan through the offering.

 

The company said the money will be used in its capital fund and for businesses approved by regulators.

 

The Shanghai offering will account for 15.66 percent of the insurer's7.345 billion shares, according to Ping An.

 

Ping An earmarked 345 million shares, or 30 percent of total shares on offer, to strategic investors. It initially set aside 287.5 million shares for fund managers and 517.5 million shares for individual investors.

 

Subscriptions by strategic investors and fund managers started on Friday while individual investors began to apply for the right to buy shares through the subscription on Monday.

 

London-based HSBC Holdings PLC holds 19.9 percent stake of the insurer, which is already listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

 

The IPO shares are expected to start trading on the Shanghai bourse before Spring Festival, the Chinese Lunar New Year's Day that falls on Feb 18 this year.

 

Ping An had 16.1 percent of the country's life insurance market in 2005 and posted 5.32 billion yuan (US$684 million) in net profits in the first three quarters of last year, up 25.77 percent from the same period a year earlier.

 

China Life, which began trading in Shanghai on Jan. 9, has raised 28.32 billion yuan (US$3.65 billion) from its initial public offering of 1.5 billion A-shares.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2007)