Glorious on the brink of HK$3 b privatisation
Trading in the stock of mainland property developer suspended as major shareholder Zhang Zhirong weighs buying out investors
Shares in Shanghai-based developer Glorious Property were suspended from trading in Hong Kong yesterday because of a possible privatisation bid estimated to be worth HK$3.1 billion.
Four years after the mainland developer listed in Hong Kong, Glorious Property requested a halt in the trading of its share yesterday morning because majority shareholder Zhang Zhirong was considering making a buyout offer to independent shareholders, it said in a statement filed to the Hong Kong exchange.
Zhang, who is also the largest shareholder in shipbuilder China Rongsheng Heavy Industries, and the 79th-richest individual on the mainland this year according to Forbes magazine, is the owner of about 68 per cent of Glorious Property.
The value of the possible privatisation offer is based on the current price of the shares, which closed 6.9 per cent higher at HK$1.24 on Friday. The stock has fallen 15 per cent this year, compared with a 3.7 per cent gain in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.
Glorious Property was listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in October 2009 through an initial public offering to raise US$1.53 billion.
Company spokesmen were not available to comment on the matter yesterday.
"If the plan proceeds, it will be the first Hong Kong-listed mainland developer to go private," said Mizuho Securities property analyst Alan Jin.