China Merchants plans up to $5.6b issue in H1

China Merchants Bank hopes to complete a rights issue of up to 35 billion yuan ($5.6 billion) in the first half of this year, Thomson Reuters publication IFR reported on Thursday.

The report said that the China Securities Regulatory Commission will review the bank's proposal for the issue on April 6.

China Merchants said in July that it will issue up to 2.2 shares for every 10 existing shares. The issue will be divided into 82 percent H shares and 18 percent A shares, IFR reported.

China International Capital Corp (CICC), Goldman Sachs and UBS are arranging the H-share issue, while CICC and Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities are arranging the A-share portion.

China Merchant's subsidiaries, China Merchants Securities and China Merchants International, will also play roles in the transaction, the report said without specifying the roles. Citigroup is the financial adviser.