China Merchants Bank raises rights issue size

HONG KONG, Oct 9 (Reuters) - China Merchants Bank (3968.HK) (600036.SS) said on Friday that it has raised the size of its planned rights issue by 22 percent and adjusted the ratio of the issue.

China Merchants Bank said it now plans to raise 18 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) to 22 billion yuan from an earlier range of 15 billion-18 billion yuan, according to an announcement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

It added the bank would offer up to 2.5 shares for each 10 existing shares held, compared with its previous plan to offer 2 shares for every 10.

The bank made a similar announcement in late August, as China Merchants Bank and its peers faced the prospect of a tightening of their adequacy requirements following a major lending spree by banks in the first half of 2009. [ID:nSHA328498] (Reporting by Doug Young; Editing by Chris Lewis)