Brilliant Circle Group, a mainland cigarette packing material maker and printer, plans to raise about US$200 million in an initial public offering in Hong Kong in the second half of the year, sources say.
Brilliant Circle specialises in the design and printing of cigarette packets, paper boxes, aluminium foil and holographic film-laminated paper.
Founded in Hong Kong in 1990, the company has invested more than 1.29 billion yuan in the mainland and has operations in Shenzhen, Anhui, Yunnan and Hunan.
Sources said Brilliant Circle had picked Cazenove Asia as its listing sponsor.
The tobacco industry in China, which has the world's largest number of smokers, has recorded rapid growth in recent years. In 2003, cigarette sales in the mainland reached 1.79 trillion sticks.
Riding on the tobacco industry boom, the value of the mainland tobacco packaging market rose to more than 10 billion yuan last year.