China Merchants Securities could raise $1.6b in Shanghai IPO

China Merchants Securities, China's eighth-largest brokerage by securities trading volume, could raise US$1.62 billion in an initial public offering on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Dow Jones reported. The brokerage said it will use all of the proceeds from the IPO to supplement its capital. Shares are expected to be offered at RMB26 (US$3.81) to RMB31 (US$4.54). The top end of the pricing range was equivalent to 56.26 times its 2008 earnings per share. The brokerage said in its prospectus that it had a net profit of US$54.93 million in the six months ending June 30, but didn't provide a comparison. In August, smaller rival Everbright Securities raised US$1.61 billion from a domestic IPO.