BNP targets US$800m in public offers from China
European investment bank BNP Paribas plans to bring at least four initial share offerings by mainland firms to the Hong Kong market next year that may raise a total of US$800 million, sources said.
The offerings include oil equipment maker Highland Petroleum Equipment, optical lens manufacturer Sunny Optical, heavy machinery maker DHI-DCW and air-conditioner maker Guangdong Chigo, the sources said.
'The fund-raising size will be around US$200 million each for the four companies,' one source said.
Pierre Rousseau, the head of BNP Paribas Securities (Asia), said the investment bank will focus on the mid-sized initial public offering market in Asia, especially the Greater China market, and plans to increase its workforce in the region by about 15 per cent.
Mr Rousseau also said BNP is in talks to buy a local brokerage company in India as part of a strategy to expand its coverage in the Asian market.
'We'll invest more in Asia and expanding our geographical coverage. We want to expand into India by the end of this year,' he said without giving details.
Meanwhile, Chongqing City Commercial Bank and two other local firms plan Hong Kong initial public offerings next year, a move being encouraged by the municipal government which wants companies to take advantage of rising prices to raise capital through equity or debt sales rather than bank loans, a local official said yesterday.
The centrally administered municipality in western China hopes to raise 5 per cent of the money it has earmarked for investment through the capital markets over the next five years, up from 3 per cent in the preceding five years, vice-mayor Huang Qifan said.
The city plans to double its capital spending to 1.5 trillion yuan between this year and 2010, from 650 billion yuan in 2001 to last year, Mr Huang told BNP Paribas' 13th China Conference.
