Chinese IPOs: Exchanges reopen for business

Hot on the heels of its highly successful $11 billion IPO in Hong Kong, mainland Chinese state-owned Bank of China is listing in Shanghai, raising an additional $2.5 billion.

The speed with which the domestic IPO was launched, just a month after the Hong Kong listing, caught many in the market unaware.

“We were very surprised to see they did the IPO so fast,” says a senior banker. “It’s an aggressive move.”

The aggression can be attributed to the government, which is increasing the pace of its domestic market reforms. As such, the Bank of China deal is a watershed for the domestic markets. Barely a year ago, officials attempted a simultaneous offering in Hong Kong and Shanghai of another mainland lender, Bank of Communications.

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