Bank of China listed its Hong Kong arm in 2002, the first Big Four bank to sell abroad

In 2002 Bank of China, one of China's Big Four state banks, took its Hong Kong operations public as BOC Hong Kong (Holdings), the territory's second-largest bank after HSBC.

The July 2002 IPO raised about US$2.5bn, priced at HK$8.50 for institutions and HK$8.075 for retail. Some 385,000 Hong Kong investors applied, so the retail allocation was lifted from 10% to 35%, and bankers said the sale was 25 times oversubscribed.

Chairman Liu Jinbao called the listing proof of confidence in the bank's future. The deal was the first by a mainland bank's Hong Kong unit and the first by a Big Four bank, and analysts treated it as the benchmark for China's financial liberalization.

The IPO raised US$2.5bn, priced at HK$8.50, and was 25 times oversubscribed; strong retail demand forced the retail portion up from 10% to 35%.

First Big Four bank to sell shares to foreign investors.

US$2.5bn raised despite a falling global equity market.

385,000 retail applicants lifted retail share from 10% to 35%.

The listing set the benchmark for later Chinese bank IPOs.

Listing a state bank's best unit first can carry reform: BOC Hong Kong's float set the benchmark for the rest of China's Big Four.

The stock fell 4.7% on its first day, which brokers blamed on the global slump after WorldCom's collapse, but the listing opened the path for the Big Four's later Hong Kong floats and for BOC's own 2006 record IPO.