Ambani looks to defy market headwinds as Jio makes debut after record IPO

In a historic moment on October 28, 2006, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) made global headlines with its record-breaking US$19 billion initial public offering (IPO). This was the first time a stock debuted on both the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges simultaneously. The bank's shares soared 14.7% on their first day in Hong Kong and a more modest 5.1% in Shanghai, solidifying ICBC's position among the world's leading banks by market capitalization.

At the time, ICBC topped the list at the fifth spot, just behind JP Morgan Chase from the US and ahead of Japan's Mitsubishi-UFJ. This IPO surpassed the previous record, set by NTT Docomo's US$18.4 billion offering in 1998, and would only increase to US$21.9 billion as ICBC exercised an overallotment option to sell additional shares.

The Hong Kong debut was particularly impressive, with the bank's shares trading up to 18% above the offering price before settling at HK$3.52. The sale represented a massive 75% oversubscription, with roughly 10.63 billion shares changing hands in Hong Kong alone. Despite the strong performance, ICBC's A shares in Shanghai only rose 5.1% above their offering price, reflecting the generally lower investor appetite in mainland China at the time.