Harbin Power Equipment's $400 million share placement has drawn strong interest from international investors, with the offer likely to be priced at the high end of the indicated price range, company secretary Deng Xianyuan said.
The firm yesterday pitched its offer of 93.83 million shares at between $4.30 and $4.45 each, a 4.81 to 8.02 per cent discount to the last traded price, fund managers said.
Mr Deng said: 'The offer was oversubscribed and attracted a good response. It is likely to price near the high end of the range.'
However, he said the stock would not resume trading today as it would take time to process a long order book. He denied the delay was related to regulatory approval procedures.
As it is already selling the maximum 20 per cent of its 469.15 million H shares allowed under a mandate given by shareholders, the company will not be able to increase the offer to meet demand.
Mr Deng would not explain the longer than normal time lag between the trading suspension and the placement.
In most cases, listed companies would have selected an underwriter for a secondary share offering by the time a trading suspension had been requested with the placement usually taking place on the same day as the suspension.