China Pacific Insurance plans $4-6 billion IPO

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co, the country's No. 3 life underwriter, is preparing initial share sales in Shanghai and Hong Kong to raise $4 billion to $6 billion, sources familiar with the deal said on Friday.

The company plans to list in Shanghai by year-end and in Hong Kong in early 2008, the sources said. UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research)(UBS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and China International Capital Corp. are sponsoring both the Shanghai and Hong Kong listings, while Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) is also working on the Hong Kong listing.

China's two big life insurers have seen their shares soar over the past year, thanks in part to the rising value of their investment portfolios of stocks listed on the roaring Shanghai exchange.

Hong Kong-listed shares in China Life Insurance (2628.HK: Quote, Profile, Research)(601628.SS: Quote, Profile, Research), the country's top insurer, have risen 150 percent over the past year, while number-two player Ping An Insurance (2318.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) has seen its share price more than triple over the past year.

To pave the way for a Hong Kong listing, U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group CYL.UL and U.S. insurer Prudential Financial (PRU.N: Quote, Profile, Research) transferred their stake in China Pacific's life insurance arm to the parent firm earlier this year.

China Pacific, whose IPO has been planned for several years, had sold a 25 percent stake in its life insurance arm to the two U.S. investors for $400 million in 2005.

After Carlyle and Prudential shifted their holdings, they then increased their stake in China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co to a combined 19.9 percent through a new share placement in May.

The remaining 80.1 percent of the insurance group is held by a number of Chinese state-owned firms, including top steel maker Baosteel.

(Reporting by Tony Munroe and Kennix Chim, editing by Ken Wills)