China Ping An sets share offer pricing details

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Ping An Insurance (Group) Co (601318.SS)(2318.HK) announced on Monday pricing details of its plan to sell $22 billion of new A shares and convertible bonds, the biggest equity refinancing by a Chinese company.

The issue of up to 1.2 billion A shares, or 14 percent of its expanded capital, will be priced at no less than the stock's average market price over the 20 trading days before the offer prospectus is released, or no less than the average price on the previous day, the company said.

The Shanghai-listed A shares of China's second biggest life insurer last closed at 98.21 yuan.

In addition, Ping An plans to sell as much 41.2 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) of six-year convertible bonds with detachable warrants.

The combined offer will raise as much as 160 billion yuan ($22 billion), based on Ping An's current market price, the official Shanghai Securities News said.

That would far exceed the 26 billion yuan raised by Haitong Securities (600837.SS) in a share placement last November, and a 30 billion yuan issue of convertible bonds planned by oil refiner Sinopec (600028.SS)(0386.HK), which was previously the largest equity refinancing in the pipeline, the newspaper said.

Announcing the fund-raising on Friday, Ping An said it would use the money as capital and to invest in mergers and acquisitions compatible with its core businesses.

($1 = 7.24 yuan)

(Reporting by Andrew Torchia, editing by Ken Wills)