Chinese insurer PICC Group prices HK IPO near bottom - IFR

HONG KONG Nov 30 (Reuters) - Chinese state-owned insurer PICC Group has priced its Hong Kong initial public offering at HK$3.48 per share, near the bottom of an indicative range, IFR reported on Friday.

People's Insurance Company (Group) of China (PICC), as the company is formally called, offered 6.9 billion new shares, putting the total deal at HK$24 billion ($3.1 billion). It had marketed the IPO at an indicative range of HK$3.42-HK$4.03 per share.

China International Capital Corp (CICC), Credit Suisse Group AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and HSBC Holdings Plc acted as sponsors of the IPO.

The list of banks helping to underwrite the deal includes Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS AG, as well Chinese firms such as ABC International and BOC International. ($1 = 7.7500 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting by Fiona Lau and Jing Song of IFR; Writing by Elzio Barreto; Editing by Richard Pullin)