China Minsheng Banking Corp., the mainland's leading non-state-owned bank, launched an initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock market on Friday to raise around 30 billion HK dollars (US$3.9 billion).

The bank was offering 3.32 billion new shares at 8.5-9.5 HK dollars per share, or 15 percent of its enlarged share capital, to raise 28.2-31.6 billion HK dollars (US$3.6-4.1 billion), making it the largest IPO in Hong Kong this year.

The offering is open to retail subscription from Friday till next Wednesday noon, with the minimum required investment being about 4,800 HK dollars. There is a greenshoe to increase the issue by an additional 15 percent, or 498 million shares. Trading of the bank's Hong Kong-listed shares were expected to start on Nov. 26.

Some investors queued outside broker offices on Friday to get subscription forms.

Local brokers had expected the offering to be very well-received, and media reports said banks and brokers had put aside up to 126 billion HK dollars (US$16.3 billion) for retail investors to borrow for subscription by margin.

Market sources said the institutional tranche has been about three times over-subscribed since the launch of book building on Monday.

The price-to-book ratio of Minsheng's Hong Kong-listed shares will be slightly below 2, about level with other Chinese mainland banks, analysts said.

New shares were mixed on the Hong Kong stock market debut recently, largely depending on the industry and the competitiveness of individual firms.

Established in Beijing in 1996, Minsheng was the one of the first non-state-owned commercial lender on the Chinese mainland. It was listed on the Shanghai stock market in 2000. As of June 30, 2009, Minsheng's assets totaled 1.4 trillion yuan (US$206.4 billion), making it one of the largest commercial lenders on the mainland.

The Shanghai-listed shares of Minsheng was up 1.73 percent at 8. 23 yuan on early Friday afternoon. (6.83 yuan = 1 U.S. dollar, 7. 742 HK dollars = 1 U.S. dollar)