Chu Kong Shipping Development Co plans to raise about HK$200 million through a listing later this month - the latest in a long list of red chips seeking to float on the stock market before the handover.
Chu Kong, controlled by Guangdong Province Navigation Holdings Co, operates cargo services between Hong Kong and the Pearl River delta. It also has wharf and godown operations and toll roads.
It would have had lucrative passenger transport operations between Hong Kong and the Pearl River delta in its portfolio had it not been for the rush to go public, sources said.
More than 10 Chinese companies are expected to raise at least US$1.9 billion in coming months, capitalising on the stable stock market and a secure regulatory environment in the run-up to the handover.
Chu Kong's parent company, Chu Kong Shipping Enterprises (Holdings) Co - controlled by the Guangdong municipal government - has interests in passenger transport between Hong Kong and the Pearl River delta, gas supply and ship maintenance.
Deputy chairman Zhou Yimin said the inclusion of passenger transport operations in future was a possibility.
For now, the company would focus on cargo transport in the delta, where it has stakes in 13 wharves.
