Bank of Tianjin prices IPO near bottom of range

Bank of Tianjin priced a HK$7.36 billion $948 million initial public offering on Monday near the bottom end of its indicative price range, giving the Chinese lender a pre-shoe market capitalisation equivalent to its book value at the end of last year.

Pricing at that level had been very much anticipated by the market since the majority of Chinese banks are trading below their book values in Hong Kong, hence limiting Bank of Tianjin’s ability to price at a premium to its book. 

Sources familiar with the deal, which is the fourth Chinese bank IPO in Hong Kong on four months, said the final...