Nearly 97 percent of HSBC rights issue taken up - BusinessWeek

Just in time to serve as a perfect example of what we do in class is relevant, HSBC announced it had completed a rights issue.

(A rights issue is a way of selling new equity by giving existing shareholders the right to buy new shares at a reduced price. These rights are generally transferable which means they can be sold to someone else who will buy the new shares.)

From BusinessWeek:

"Stockholders have purchased nearly 97 percent of new shares offered under a rights issue, HSBC PLC said Sunday, raising nearly $18 billion (12 billion pounds) for the London-based bank."

And from the BBC:

"The $17.7bn (£12.5bn) by HSBC raised makes this the largest rights issue in UK corporate history.

The take-up was not a big surprise because the shares were being offered at 245p each, but were trading on the London Stock Exchange at 435p each"

And from the NY Times:

"HSBC said it expected to place the remaining 3.4 percent of the offering on Monday but any unsold shares would be acquired by its underwriters...."

We just covered rights issues in class, so this will be of special interest to my MBA students!