Two mainland industry leaders, Metallurgical Corp of China and China National Pharmaceutical Group Corp (Sinopharm), are expected to tap the Hong Kong initial public offering market next week to raise a combined HK$21 billion, signalling a new listing boom.
Bankers involved in the two offerings admit that a tight timetable and weaker market had forced them to launch the deals as early as they could.
The Hong Kong stock market has remained at its current level for more than a month and many expect a substantial correction.
The two H-share listing hopefuls sat at a hearing with the bourse's listing committee yesterday, giving committee members the chance to raise questions about the companies and their offerings to determine whether to approve the listings.
'Everything went smoothly and next week it is definitely possible for the first round of pre-marketing or even the launch of a management roadshow,' said a person close to Metallurgical's offering. 'Nobody wants to market their shares during a downturn.'
The Hong Kong stock market has risen 40.7 per cent since the beginning of the year. But it has been trading between 20,000 and 21,000 points for a month.
