Retail investors give cool response to SJM offering
SJM Holdings, one of the six casino operators in Macau, has drawn a cool response from investors on the first day of the retail offering of its initial public offering, despite reassurances from chairman Stanley Ho Hung-sun that the company's best days lay ahead.
'Through the years, like Lady Luck, we have not lost our charm,' Mr Ho said in a taped video address shown to reporters. 'Grow with us and the best is yet to come.'
However, not many retail investors are taking up his challenge on the delayed and downsized sale.
Three retail brokerages said they received a total of HK$29.5 million worth of orders through margin financing yesterday.
Other brokerages were less enthusiastic. 'We have no plans to offer margin financing for SJM as I think Macau stocks are not sure winners and have lost their magic,' said Nelson Chan, the general manager at Bright Smart Securities.
SJM is marketing 1.25 billion new shares at HK$3.08 to HK$4.08 each to raise up to HK$5.1 billion, according to its listing prospectus.
Meanwhile, Mr Ho's estranged sister Winnie Ho Yuen-ki filed two new Macau lawsuits on Wednesday, according to her spokeswoman.
Pedro Redinha, Ms Ho's Macau lawyer, filed a civil suit alleging that the board of directors of SJM's parent company, Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM), had been formed illegally.
A second criminal suit was filed against SJM chief executive Ambrose So Shu-fai in his capacity as president of the board of directors of STDM. The complaint focuses on STDM's HK$2.29 billion sale of a 25 per cent stake in the Nova City residential development last year.
While STDM's board did not vote to approve the deal until December, the suit alleges the sale was registered with the Macau government six months earlier.
'We worked very closely with the regulators and I am pleased to say that we have satisfied them on all counts,' Mr So said. 'As far as all these complaints are concerned, according to the legal opinion we have sought, they have no impact on the legality of our [public offering]. We are not worried.'
The retail offering will last until Wednesday, while trading of the shares will start on July 10. Deutsche Bank is the sole bookrunner of the offering.
Meanwhile, China Shanshui Cement Group, the largest cement maker in Shandong province, had secured enough orders from both retail and institutional investors for its proposed HK$2.3 billion offering despite the poor market environment, sources said.
The firm is selling 650 million new shares at HK$2.70 to HK$ 3.65 each through joint bookrunners Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse.
Few takers
Some retail brokerages are dangling margin financing to sell SJM
Worth of orders via margin financing received by three brokerages, in HK$29.5m
