The GDR issuance of China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “China Pacific Insurance” or “the Company”), has attracted tremendous market attention as it makes progress on its London Stock Exchange listing. On June 13, China Pacific Insurance announced on three major platforms; the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange, that the prospectus of the Issuance (the “GDR Prospectus”) was approved by the UK Financial Conduct Authority on 12 June 2020 (London time). Prior to this, the Company announced on 2 June that the GDR issuance was approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Company entered into a cornerstone investment agreement with Swiss Re Principal Investments Company Asia Pte. Ltd (“Swiss Re”). On 10 June, the Company announced the intention to float on the London Stock Exchange. Following the successful GDR issuance on London Stock Exchange, China Pacific Insurance will become the first Chinese insurance company to issue GDRs and the first A+H+G (Shanghai, Hong Kong, London) listed insurance company.
According to the related announcement, China Pacific Insurance intends to base offer no more than 102,873,300 GDRs, each of which represents 5 A-shares of the Company. In addition, the stabilisation manager can exercise the over-allotment option with no more than 10,287,300 additional GDRs, which do not exceed 10% of the base offering. The price range of the GDRs under the Issuance is preliminarily set between US$17.60 and US$19.00 per GDR. The offer period of the GDRs under the Issuance is from 12 June 2020 to 16 June 2020 (London time). Assuming the maximum number of GDRs of the proposed Issuance is achieved and the over-allotment option is fully exercised, the gross proceeds of the GDR Issuance will amount to between US$1.99 billion and US$2.15 billion. According to the regulatory rules, the GDRs issued cannot be converted into underlying A shares within 120 days from the date of listing.
The approval of the GDR Prospectus indicates that China Pacific Insurance’s GDR issuance has entered into the final stage of the process. China Pacific Insurance believes that the issuance of GDRs will provide global investors with the opportunity to participate in the growth potential of China’s booming insurance sector, which has increasingly been opening up in recent years. This Offering will broaden the Company’s access to global capital market as well as further one of its core strategies, Transformation 2.0. According to the issuance plan stated in the announcement, China Pacific Insurance hopes the issuance of GDRs will expand its high-quality investors worldwide, diversify its shareholder structure and continue to enhance its corporate governance. The issuance price range is determined according to the Company’s fundamentals and the evaluation of investors, the Shanghai-London Connect regulatory requirements, the domestic and foreign capital market conditions and the issuance risks.
Founded in 1991, China Pacific Insurance is going to celebrate its 30th Anniversary in 2021. As a leading insurance group in China with one of the most prestigious brands in the industry, China Pacific Insurance continues to showcase its outstanding performance. According to China Pacific Insurance’s first quarter financial report for 2020, the Company achieved operating revenue of RMB138.211 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.8% and realized net profit attributable to equity holders of the Parent Company of RMB8.388 billion, up 53.1% on year-on-year basis. Recently, China Pacific Insurance published its 2019 annual dividend payment implementation announcement, which declared distribution of its annual cash dividend of 1.2 yuan (tax included) per share. According to professional research institutions, the China Pacific Insurance’s GDR issuance is expected to improve the Company’s corporate governance as well as help attract investors with potential strategic synergies or business cooperation. Meanwhile, the GDR listing will help the Company build an offshore US dollar fundraising platform and enhance the Company’s international layout focusing on the insurance industry value chain. The listing will also introduce Swiss Re, who has a long-term cooperative relationship with China Pacific Insurance, as a cornerstone investor and create favourable conditions for building a stronger partnership between the two parties. With the UK regarded as the birthplace of the modern insurance industry, China Pacific Insurance is honoured to be listing in the London capital markets for its 30th anniversary. The Company is looking forward to a bright future and to impress the world with its continued market expansion.