Postal Savings Bank of China Co reportedly applies for $8 billion HK IPO

Postal Savings Bank of China Co filed an application for an $8 billion initial public offering with the Hong Kong stock exchange, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

The bank submitted the application on Thursday, and it will take at least a month before it gets listed, said the source who declined to be identified.

The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited has not yet posted the bank on a list of applicants who have issued application proofs as of June 30, as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region celebrated its establishment day on Friday.

An $8 billion IPO would be the largest since China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd raised a record $25 billion in New York in September 2014, Bloomberg reported.

Postal Savings Bank replied to China Daily's inquiry on Friday, saying that it does not have any information that needs to be disclosed.

The bank introduced 10 strategic investors including UBS AG, JP Morgan, Temasek Holdings Pte, China Telecom and Tencent Holdings Ltd in December, raising 45.1 billion yuan ($6.8 billion) by selling 16.92 percent of its stake.

With more than 40,000 branches across the country, the bank has the most branches of all Chinese lenders, serving nearly 500 million customers.

Lv Jiajin, executive director and president of PSBC, said in December the bank is looking for the right opportunity to get listed. However, the global financial market has become turbulent recently due to the UK's vote to leave the European Union, which caused the pound to plunge to a 30-year low.