Artini China and E-Land Fashion China Holdings, two listing candidates with retail businesses mostly on the mainland, have received enough orders from institutional investors for their initial public offerings but have had a tough time attracting retail orders, sources said.
Fashion jewellery retailer Artini, which was brought to the market by Cazenove Asia, had received institutional orders less than two times the number of shares available, while the retail portion was barely covered, sources said yesterday.
The company and its existing shareholder offered 280 million shares, of which 89.29 per cent were new, at between HK$2.22 and HK$3.43 each.
The price is 12 to 18.5 times the firm's forecast earnings next year. The deal could raise up to HK$962 million for outlet expansion.
'The sponsor hinted to us that the deal is likely to be priced at the low end of the indicative range, as most investors placed orders at that level,' said a fund manager who joined the offering.
E-Land Fashion China, a spin-off of South Korea's E-Land World, also drew a better response from institutional investors than retail buyers.
