Macau Legend delays offering
Choppy markets have prompted casino-hotel operator Macau Legend Development to delay its HK$6.1 billion flotation, increasing pressure on other listing candidates to reconsider their plans.
Choppy markets have prompted casino-hotel operator Macau Legend Development to delay its HK$6.1 billion flotation, increasing pressure on other listing candidates to reconsider their plans.
The size of the initial public offering of the firm, controlled by former Macau legislator David Chow Kam-fai, may also be reduced, to 15 per cent of the company's enlarged share capital from 29 per cent.
Under the new plan, the offering will consist only of new shares. Existing shares that would be offered would form part of a 15 per cent greenshoe option, bankers said.
They said they hoped to relaunch the share offering next week but had not released a revised schedule.
Macau Legend's offering had opened on Monday and closed on Thursday. It had been expected to price the shares yesterday.
Meanwhile, the US$800 million spin-off of three five-star hotel assets owned by New World Development has been pushed back. The plan was to kick off the roadshow on Monday.
The "issuer is reluctant to reduce its offering size" and has adopted a "wait-and-see approach" in the hope of a market recovery, according to three people with knowledge of the deal.
The business trust, under NW Hotel Investments, operates Grand Hyatt, Renaissance Harbour View and Hyatt Regency in Tsim Sha Tsui. It was expected to undergo a one-week marketing campaign from Monday, with pricing and trading scheduled for July 3 and 9, respectively.
Global markets have been volatile recently, with investors concerned about the timing of any US Federal Reserve plans to taper off its US$85 billion-a-month bond-buying programme. The uncertainty has triggered a fall in Asian equities and in gold and oil prices.
In addition, investors continued to sell mainland-related stocks for the second consecutive session yesterday amid a cash crunch across the border.
Short-term lending rates remained about double their normal level, triggering the central bank to order major banks to lend to each other in the interbank lending system.
Hopewell Hong Kong Properties earlier this month shelved a HK$6.05 billion offering.
Demand for new shares has remained dull after six out of 10 newly listed companies fell below their issue prices this year.
