This is the first IPO managed by the bank since a scandal tarnished its name
ICEA Capital is confident about the near-term prospects of Dawnrays Pharmaceutical (Holdings), whose initial public offering (IPO) is the first share offer lead-managed by ICEA after its reputation was tarnished by former client Euro-Asia Agricultural (Holdings).
'We have come to know the company inside out,' said ICEA managing director Gary Sik of Dawnrays, a mainland-based antibiotics producer scheduled to float on the Hong Kong main board on July 11 after an IPO this week.
'This time, we have demanded high work quality,' Mr Sik said, while declining to comment on ICEA's responsibility in the Euro-Asia scandal, citing ongoing regulatory investigations and lack of personal involvement in the deal.
'Over a long, say 10-year, timeframe, we can't even say if your newspaper or ICEA will go bankrupt. But at least for the moment, we don't see any problems with [Dawnrays]' he said.
Mr Sik's comments came after an anonymous e-mail to potential investors and the press last week drew comparisons between Dawnrays' private ownership, high profit margins and production efficiency to those of Shenyang-based floricultural firm Euro-Asia.
Once a darling with institutional investors, Euro-Asia has since been found to have inflated its revenue 20 times in the four years to 2001 in order to gain its July 2001 Hong Kong main-board listing, sponsored by ICEA.