CGN Meiya Power woos retail traders in IPO aiming to raise up to HK$1.8b

CGN Meiya Power Holdings, a division of China General Nuclear Power Corp, the Chinese power giant responsible for the Daya Bay nuclear plant near Shenzhen, opened its books to local retail investors on Friday morning. It hopes to raise between HK$1.5 billion and HK1.8 billion in an initial public offering.

Meiya specialises in non-nuclear power and last year reported installed capacity of 2555 megawatts split between gas, hydro, and coal fired power stations in China and Korea, according to the IPO prospectus.

The company will issue just over one billion shares priced up to HK$1.73 each. This represents 25 per cent of the company’s share capital, according to the prospectus. The remainder is controlled by the parent group CGNPC.

Some 103 million shares have been allocated to Hong Kong retail investors.

Meiya expects to raise HK$1.53 billion, assuming an average price of HK$1.65 per share, and has already secured HK$630 million from cornerstone investors Value Partners, Chow Tai Fok, Guangdong state run asset management group Hengjian Investment, China Southern Power Grid and China Cinda Asset Management.

Seventy per cent of the IPO proceeds will be used to acquire clean and renewable power projects from CGNPC and the remainder will go towards buying existing plants and greenfield sites from third party operators, the prospectus said.