Postal Savings Bank of China is seeking as much as $8.1 billion in a Hong Kong initial public offering, which could become the world's biggest share sale this year. The Beijing-based bank is offering 12.1 billion shares at HK$4.68-HK$5.18 apiece, according to terms for the deal obtained by Bloomberg on Tuesday.

The price range values Postal Savings Bank at about 1 to 1.1 times its net assets at the end of March this year, a person with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. Chinese lenders listed in Hong Kong trade at a median 0.88 times their latest book value, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Postal Savings Bank,ubiquitous in small-town China, joins Bank of Tianjin and China Zheshang Bank in selling shares in Hong Kong to fund expansion.

Even at the bottom end of the price range, Postal Savings Bank’s first-time share sale would be the largest globally this year, in fact the largest since e-commerce billionaire Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group priced its $25 billion New York share sale in September 2014. – Bloomberg