PICC aims for IPO in Hong Kong

People's Insurance Co (Group) of China Ltd, one of the nation's biggest insurers by premium values, is planning a listing in Hong Kong and may launch a roadshow by the end of this week, Securities Daily reported.

The insurer is planning to undertake a pre-marketing of the share sale on Thursday and may be listed in early December, a source quoted by Securities Daily said.

The initial public offering of PICC may raise between $2 and $4 billion. The price of the shares has not been decided yet. The shares on offer, if the IPO is successful, will account for around 17 percent of the company's total share capital after listing.

The insurer, the parent of Hong Kong-listed property insurer PICC Property & Casualty Co, planned to list in Shanghai and Hong Kong simultaneously earlier this year to raise $6 billion in total. That plan was dropped because the insurer did not receive regulatory approval to be listed in Shanghai, according to Securities Daily.

Analysts said that PICC's IPO, if successful, will become the largest in Hong Kong in 2012 and may encourage more listings in the city.