Zhong An Real Estate Holdings, a Zhejiang-based developer, plans to raise as much as HK$3.4 billion in a Hong Kong listing next month, sources said. The developer yesterday kicked off an international roadshow for the stock offer, marketing 543 million new shares at between HK$5 and HK$6.25 each, according to a sale document sent to fund managers. The sale accounts for 27.15 per cent of the firm's enlarged share capital, excluding additional shares in an overallotment option. Four cornerstone investors - tycoons Peter Woo Kwong-ching and Lau Luen-hung, and Chow Tai Fook Nominees and Starr Investments - had agreed to buy US$100 million worth of Zhong An shares and keep their stakes for six months, market sources said. The initial public offering will take place from October 31 to November 5. The trading debut will be on November 13. Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan are the joint global bookrunners, while DBS and Citic Securities will be co-lead managers. Zhong An plans to use HK$1.8 billion of the sale proceeds to buy land, HK$400 million on project development and HK$225 million to settle outstanding acquisition costs of a property project. The company expanded recently to cities in the Yangtze River Delta including Shanghai as well as Hefei in Anhui province. It develops low-rise residential properties but also invests in commercial properties and hotels. The firm was seeking new projects in cities including Ningbo, Wenzhou and Jinhua, sources said. 'Zhong An hopes to become a nationwide developer and the fund could help it achieve that goal,' said a source. New home prices in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang, had risen 10 per cent in August from a year earlier, official figures show. The central government has announced three new measures to cool the property market, including lifting the ceiling on mortgage down payments to 50 per cent for second homes and preparing to levy property tax. Expansion money The firm will use funds raised to buy land and develop projects The number of shares Zhong An Real Estate will bring to the market: 543m
