Sinochem sale to maintain float
Fertiliser group Sinochem Hong Kong Holdings said yesterday it planned to sell 390 million new shares to investors at $1.25 to $1.70 each to maintain the minimum public float required under the listing rules.
Sinochem Hong Kong fell as much as 9.14 per cent after the company announced its placement plan, but it rebounded in the afternoon trading session and finished 3.04 per cent lower at $1.59.
The shares sale represents 6.71 per cent of Sinochem Hong Kong's enlarged share capital. Cazenove and Goldman Sachs are the joint global co-ordinators and bookrunners.
'We will start the roadshow on Wednesday but do not have a further timetable for the placement,' said a source involved in the deal.
Sinochem Hong Kong had said earlier that it was considering measures, including placing existing shares or new shares to a strategic investor, to meet the minimum public float requirement of not less than 25 per cent.
In a deal announced in January, the mainland's largest petroleum, chemicals and fertiliser trading firm - Sinochem Corp, which is seeking a backdoor listing in Hong Kong - agreed to sell a fertiliser firm to Sinochem Hong Kong for $5.05 billion in a reverse takeover.
The deal gave Sinochem Corp, via its unit, an almost 95 per cent interest in listed Sinochem Hong Kong. Shareholders approved the deal on July 5.
Last month, Sinochem Corp said it was selling a 9.99 per cent stake in Sinochem Hong Kong to the world's most valuable fertiliser producer Potash Corp.
