ABC IPO: The cornerstones

Described on page 354 of the Agricultural Bank of China prospectus as “Our Corporate Investors”, these 11 companies pledged to buy an agreed and disclosed amount of the H-share offering on day one in exchange for guarantees that their orders would be filled. After a difficult few weeks before the release of the prospectus in which media, analysts and investors all questioned whether Agricultural Bank of China would find sufficient demand, the announcement of this list did much to reassure the market. Note that the investors agreed to buy the shares at the offer price – without knowing in advance what that price would be.