Price cutting seen in scramble for mainland property listings

Competition is intensifying between Chinese Estates, Pacific Concord and China Resources, all of which plan to list their mainland property divisions at roughly the same time and are vying for institutional interest.

Analysts expect the companies to list late this month or early next month and said a price war between the three was imminent as they sought to woo investors.

They said the competition would provide rich pickings for houses looking for exposure to the mainland property market.

It is understood Chinese Estates' mainland property arm plans to raise between $240 million and $250 million with the placement of 200 million shares priced between $1.20 and $1.25 each.

This would represent a 30 per cent discount to the proposed company's net asset value.

Analysts said this aggressive pricing strategy could spur Pacific Concord and Chinese Resources to offer shares at a similar discount.

Some analysts said Chinese Estates had to price itself aggressively as it was the least attractive of the three.