China Pacific Insurance has completed London’s second largest stock listing of the year, boosting a flagship programme to connect the biggest equity markets in Europe and China.
The insurer issued $1.8bn in global depositary receipts in London, backed by shares listed in Shanghai, as part of a “stock connect” programme that links the two exchanges. Full trading in the GDRs began on Monday.
China Pacific, which said it would use the proceeds of the offering to expand its overseas operations and to invest in foreign businesses, has become the second company to use the link since its launch in June last year — the culmination of a project unveiled five years ago by China and the UK.