From Bloomberg News:
The Bank of China said Wednesday that it had attracted $84.6 billion in bids for its initial public offering, 33 times the stock on offer, underlining the demand for share sales after Beijing lifted a yearlong ban on new equity offers.
Individual investors accounted for more than 80 percent of the orders for stock in the bank, which sought 20 billion yuan, or $2.5 billion, selling local- currency shares, according to a statement by the lender, which is based in Beijing. A lottery will be held to decide which investors get shares, it said.
The Bank of China offering is a test for efforts to channel more of the $1.9 trillion of Chinese household savings into equities after restrictions that forced mainland companies to sell stock abroad were lifted.
