Law360, Hong Kong (December 9, 2015, 11:53 AM ET) -- The Postal Savings Bank of China, the Chinese bank with the most branches, said Wednesday that it had sold off a nearly 17 percent stake in itself to 10 domestic and foreign investors for 45.1 billion yuan ($7 billion) as it gears up for a listing next year.

The bank, previously entirely held by the state-owned China Post Group, announced that it had received approval from China's banking regulator to take on the strategic investment ahead of a planned initial public offering, according to a live transcript of PSBC's Beijing press conference released by China's official Xinhua news agency.

The investors who have purchased a combined 16.92 percent stake of the enlarged share capital in PSBC include global financial powerhouses UBS Group AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the World Bank's International Finance Corp. unit as well as the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Singapore's DBS Bank Ltd. and Temasek Holdings, according to the Xinhua transcript.

Chinese Internet giants Tencent Holdings and the Alibaba-affiliated Ant Financial Services Group also invested in the bank, along with China Life Insurance Co. and China Telecom Corp., the transcript said

"This is not only a win-win partnership between PSBC and strategic investors, but a great example of beneficial cooperation between China and the rest of the world," PSBC president Lyu Jiajin said, according to Xinhua's account of the press conference.

Securing these investors is considered a strategic step for the bank as it moves toward an expected filing for an initial public offering in Hong Kong next year with China looking to reform its state-owned commercial banks.

PSBC did not specify the size of the stake that each of the strategic investors had taken, but a filing made by China Life Insurance to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Tuesday shows that the insurer agreed to shell out 12.9 billion yuan for a less than 5 percent stake.

A statement released by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board said it had has invested 3.2 billion yuan in the bank.

"China is an important market for a long-term investor like CPPIB and we view this investment as a great opportunity to work alongside a highly respected financial institution to participate in the future growth and rising consumption patterns of the Chinese population," CPPIB CEO Mark Wiseman said in the statement.

In the near term, as it prepares to go public, PSBC will use the investment to replenish its capital, according to the press conference transcript.

The bank also intends to cooperate actively with its strategic investors, benefiting from their expertise in the financial realm, as it readies itself for the listing, the transcript said.

Founded in 2007, PSBC has the greatest number of branches of any Chinese bank and boasts a large retail client base.

Information on the counsel advising the parties on the share sale was not immediately available on Wednesday.

--Editing by Rebecca Flanagan.

http://www.law360.com/articles/735863/china-postal-bank-sells-stake-for-7b-in-anticipation-of-ipo