StanChart files for Hong Kong stock offering


Standard Chartered hopes to raise its profile with a stock offering in Hong Kong, where it's the fourth-biggest bank

By Alex Frew McMillan

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Standard Chartered Bank has officially applied to sell stock in Hong Kong in a secondary listing.

The London-based bank plans to list in Hong Kong by the end of October, according to wire services.

The offering was shelved last year due to plummeting stock prices caused by the September 11 attacks.

StanChart, as the bank is known, specializes in emerging markets and has extensive operations in Asia. It is also Hong Kong's fourth-biggest retail bank.

The bank is keen to raise its profile in Hong Kong, the bank's biggest market, and to boost its investor base.

StanChart said in releasing its half-year results in August that it planned to sell stock in Hong Kong in the fourth quarter.

It said last week it is considering using the money it raises in Hong Kong to buy back its shares in London, to prevent dilution in the stock.

A 'modest' offering

The bank says the offering will be "modest," at most 5 percent of the total shares outstanding. That would likely raise around HK$5 billion ($641 million).


StanChart bought a $50 million stake in the Bank of China Hong Kong when it went public in July

In another high-profile stock sale, StanChart bought a HK$389 million ($50 million) strategic stake in the Bank of China Hong Kong when it went public in July. (Full story on BOC debut)

Mainland phone giant China Telecom also aims to go public around the same time, in an offering worth some HK$23 billion to HK$39 billion ($3 billion to $5 billion).

But analysts have said the offerings should be distinct enough not to compete with each other for investors.

Banking is big business in Hong Kong, where HSBC is both the largest bank and the largest stock on the market by capitalization.

It is unclear whether StanChart would join the 33-stock Hang Seng index, however, with Bank of China Hong Kong -- the city's second-largest bank -- likely to be included instead.