China Everbright eyes 3 yuan/shr IPO price -sources

SHANGHAI Aug 2 (Reuters) - China Everbright Bank, which is conducting an initial public offering in Shanghai, hopes to sell shares at 3.0-3.2 yuan apiece, enabling the lender to raise as much as 19.52 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) before an overallotment of shares, two people familiar with the deal said on Monday.

The price range, indicated to fund managers during pre-marketing on Monday, represents 1.5-1.6 times Everbright Bank's forecast 2010 book value, said the sources, who declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Everbright Bank, China's 11th biggest lender by assets, joins rivals such as Agricultural Bank of China (AgBank) (601288.SS)(1288.HK) in a rush to raise money to replenish capital depleted by last year's government-directed lending spree.

The lender, controlled by Central Huijin, a unit of China's $300 billion sovereign wealth fund, plans to sell 6.1 billion yuan-denominated A shares, and could expand its IPO by 15 percent to 7 billion shares through an overallotment. ($1=6.77 Yuan) (Reporting by Samuel Shen and Jacqueline Wong)