Firms seek approval for public offerings
Three small to medium-sized listing candidates will today seek approval from the Hong Kong stock exchange to sell shares worth as much as HK$3.2 billion next month.
The listings hopefuls aim to cash in on recent signs of a revival of investor interest in initial public offerings as sportswear manufacturer Win Hanverky Holdings, the first post-summer break IPO, saw strong demand from institutional and retail investors.
'Market sentiment for IPOs has been heating up after the overwhelming response to the first post-summer IPO, Win Hanverky,' said one source.
'It's a favourable time for other IPOs to come on stream after the quiet and long summer break.'
Hong Kong-based Computime, which makes electronic control products for commercial, residential and industrial uses, plans to raise between HK$800 million and HK$1 billion next month. JP Morgan is the sponsor.
SPG Land, a property developer based in Shanghai, hopes to raise US$200 million next month, with Macquarie Bank and DBS Asia Capital serving as sponsors.
Beijing Jingkelong, a supermarket operator based in the capital, aims to sell shares worth about HK$600 million, reviving a plan that was rejected by the stock exchange earlier this year.
DBS Asia Capital is the sole sponsor of the deal.
If the three received approval from the exchange's listing committee today, they could begin pre-marketing as soon as next week, market sources said.
Win Hanverky, which is raising as much as HK$714 million by selling 300 million shares, won orders for almost 30 times the number on offer to institutions and about 300 times those being made available to retail investors.
The offer price would be set today, most likely at the high end of the range, sources added.
Despite the improved sentiment towards initial public offerings and ample liquidity in the market, the three listing candidates could face another hurdle - the pending share sale by China Merchants Bank which will kick off the roadshow and share placement to institutional investors next week, sources said.
China Merchants, the mainland's sixth-largest commercial lender by assets, plans to raise as much as US$2 billion by selling as many as 2.53 billion shares, including the option to sell an additional 330 million shares if demand warrants.
