Economic Observer Online
June 26, 2012
By Ouyang Xiaohong (欧阳晓红)
Translated by Zhu Na
Original article: [Chinese]

State-owned insurer PICC Group, formally known as People's Insurance Company of China Group, is likely to delay listing on the Hong Kong board until October this year, sources close to the company told the Economic Observer.

The EO has learned that the company may chose to launch its initial public offering (IPO) on both the domestic A-share and Hong Kong boards at the same time.

PICC secured approval from the Hong Kong stock exchange for a planned initial public offering of between $3 billion - $4 billion on June 21. However, PICC intends to delay the listing procedure and aims to launch the IPO before October due to difficult market conditions..

The EO has also learned that the road show for the PICC IPO, which was supposed to kick off at the end of June, has been postponed.

"The key point is that currently, PICC's subsidiaries have gradually improved their ability to raise additional capital, and the company's financing demands have been satisfied, [so] PICC now has the ability to choose the best time to list," a person familiar with the matter told the EO.

The PICC listing was set to be the largest IPO to take place in Hong Kong this year after Haitong Securities raised $ 1.8 billion in April.

At the beginning of June, Graff Diamonds Corp, an English jeweler, pulled its plan to list on the Hong Kong exchange.

The benchmark Hang Seng index is down about 12 percent since reaching a peak for the year in late February.