Singapore-based agribusiness group Wilmar International has elected to float shares in its mainland subsidiary on the Hong Kong market in preference to a Shanghai listing, according to a source.
Wilmar, which mainly produces cooking oils, has asked its financial advisers, Bank of China International, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, to prepare the Hong Kong share sale, which is tipped to raise US$3 billion to US$4 billion.
'The deal has moved from a feasibility study to 'let's execute this as soon as we can',' said the source.
The offering is expected in the first half of next year.
The company said in May it was studying the feasibility of selling 20 to 30 per cent of its mainland business in either Shanghai or Hong Kong.
The choice of Hong Kong is likely to delight local regulators and disappoint Beijing, which is vying with Hong Kong to encourage large foreign multinationals to sell shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange to build the city's credentials as a modern financial hub.
Deputy Commerce Minister Chen Jian said earlier this month that his ministry would 'actively guide high-quality foreign firms to go public in China', and HSBC chief executive Michael Geoghegan has committed publicly to a Shanghai listing.