Wanda and BAIC target year-end listings to raise US$5b

Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties and BAIC Motor Corp launch their long-awaited initial share sales today, looking to raise more than a combined US$5 billion.

The two initial public offerings have been trimmed in size, with a significant portion of shares pre-sold to a handful of investors before the deals are officially launched to ensure they will not flop because of increasing market volatility following a mix of plunging crude oil prices and a surge in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets.

Wanda, controlled by mainland billionaire Wang Jianlin, has secured about US$2 billion from a consortium of 11 investors before it hits the road to market its US$3.86 billion share sale.

The cornerstone investors will get access to a sizeable stake in exchange for a six-month lock-up period.

The cornerstone investors, including the Kuwait Investment Authority, US hedge fund manager Och-Ziff Capital Management Group and Ping An Insurance (Group), account for more than half of the deal.

The mainland developer has offered to sell 600 million shares at an indicative range of HK$41.80 to HK$49.80 each.

It initially planned to raise as much as US$6 billion but investors were looking for reasonable pricing, given the weak property market on the mainland, sources familiar with the deal said.

Wanda will start the listing roadshow today and is scheduled to price the shares next Monday.

Joining the rush for a year-end listing is BAIC, partly owned by German carmaker Daimler, which plans to raise up to US$1.57 billion by selling shares in a price range between HK$7.60 and HK$9.80 each.

The state-owned carmaker had sold up to US$800 million, or more than half of the deal, to cornerstone investors, sources familiar with the deal said.

"The Beijing-based carmaker has offered the deal at market-friendly terms, offering the shares at a price-earnings ratio of up to 8.3 times based on its [expected] earnings for 2015," a source close to the company said.

BAIC at one stage asked the banks to sell the shares at a ratio of 18 times, but was said to have scrapped that idea after receiving high-level instructions from Beijing.

The firm will price the deal on Saturday and is scheduled for a market debut on December 18.