Growth-challenged trade exporter Li & Fung is seeking to raise fresh funds by selling bonds to fund acquisitions.
The 104-year-old firm, which sources consumer goods for retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores, yesterday was selling 10-year US dollar-denominated bonds, which analysts estimated would raise about US$500 million.
They said the fund-raising exercise had lifted the curtain on several acquisitions in the pipeline as the group sought to meet its US$1 billion core operating profit target and turnover of US$20 billion by year's end.
Li & Fung directors conceded in March that it would be a challenge to reach its goal because the global financial crisis had left it last year with a core operating profit of about US$513 million, about half of this year's target, and turnover had slipped for the first time in decades, by 6 per cent to US$13.39 billion.
'It is racing against time, with about seven months left,' an analyst at a European brokerage said. 'It has to make at least two large-sized earnings-accretive deals in the coming months to meet the target.'
Li & Fung declined to comment.
