Shenzhen-listed GF Securities raises $3.6 bln in share offer-IFR

HONG KONG, March 31 (Reuters) - GF Securities Co Ltd , China's fourth largest brokerage by total assets, priced its Hong Kong share offering at the top of expectations, raising HK$27.9 billion ($3.6 billion) in funds for its margin finance and lending businesses and to expand overseas. The Shenzhen-listed company sold 1.48 billion new shares at HK$18.85 each, Thomson Reuters publication IFR reported, citing a source familiar with the transaction. The shares had been marketed in an indicative range of HK$15.65 to HK$18.85. GF Securities did not immediately reply to requests for comment on its pricing. GF Capital, a unit of GF Securities, and Goldman Sachs were hired as joint sponsors of the share sale, with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BOCOM International, Deutsche Banks and Morgan Stanley also acting as joint global coordinators. ($1 = 7.7540 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting by Fiona Lau of IFR; Writing by Elzio Barreto; Editing by Miral Fahmy)