Galanz targets US$1b from year-end IPO

Galanz, the world's largest microwave oven maker, plans to raise as much as US$1 billion from an initial public offering on the mainland by the end of this year at the earliest, sources said.

The company's chief executive said in November last year a share sale was likely and a spokesman last week confirmed the plan but declined to comment further.

'It's going to be tough in this market,' one source said.

Some commentators warned the company might have to reduce its fund-raising ambitions and settle for US$500 million because of continuing volatility in equity markets.

Offerings ground to a halt last year as the two mainland stock markets nosedived along with their overseas peers as financial institutions collapsed and key economies entered recession. But recent indications from the mainland stock market regulator suggest a tentative restart to equity sales was being planned, sources said.

'They've got 450 offerings that are just stuck and some of them will have to get out somehow,' said a Beijing equity banker. 'You'll see relatively small share sales coming up to test the market and, if those go well, larger ones will follow.'

Galanz is likely to try selling itself to investors as a way of gaining exposure to China's domestic growth story as Beijing tries to boost demand at home.