China Railway Signal & Communication seeks to raise US$2b in Hong Kong offering
High investor interest expected as mainland railway stocks rally on overseas expansion plans
China Railway Signal & Communication (CRSC), a Beijing-based manufacturer of rail automation and control systems, plans to raise about US$2 billion through a Hong Kong initial public offering in the second half of this year.
CRSC's funding plan comes at a time when mainland railway companies are aggressively bidding for projects worldwide.
"CRSC's IPO is still in the preliminary stages but it should be coming in the second half of the year," said a source in Beijing yesterday. "The planned share sale is expected to get plenty of investor interest after a recent rally in railway stocks due to a merger of two rolling stock players and overseas expansion."
Founded in 1953, CRSC has 14 factories and 10 joint ventures and has sold its products and services to more than 20 countries, according to its website.
China CNR Corp and CSR Corp, the world's two largest train makers, recently agreed to merge into a rolling-stock behemoth. Hong Kong-traded shares in CNR have more than doubled in value in the past year while CSR has jumped almost 70 per cent.
Beijing has announced plans for US$1.2 trillion of overseas Chinese investments in the next 10 years, offering domestic companies a chance to increase their market share abroad as China takes the lead in breaking the connectivity bottleneck in Asia.