Hong Kong :  Le Gaga Holdings Ltd., the Hong Kong-based greenhouse vegetable producer, raised $103 million (Dh380 million) in an initial public offering, as Asian companies led the busiest month for US IPOs in almost three years.

The seller of produce to supermarkets in Hong Kong and China jumped 19 per cent yesterday after pricing its American depositary receipts at $9.50 each, the top end of its forecast range, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A total of 21 companies sold shares through IPOs in October, the most since 22 initial sales in December 2007, the data show.

Companies in Asia, the world's fastest growing region, have recorded six of the 10 largest gains among IPOs in the US this year. ChinaCache International Holdings Ltd., the Beijing-based provider of internet content to businesses, this month had the biggest first-day rally for a New York listing in three years.

"That's where everybody wants their money and where the hot story is right now," said Timothy Cunningham, a money manager at Thornburg Investment Management, which oversees about $69 billion. "Especially for China, you have a nice long-term growth story there."

Le Gaga intends to use the money to build greenhouses and improve other facilities, its Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed.

The company will also use proceeds for research and development. Bank of America Corp. and Zurich-based UBS AG led the offering.

Reaction

"We're happy," said Ma Shing Yung, Le Gaga's chairman and chief executive officer. The IPO was priced "at the high end of the price range, so we're very happy about it," he said.

Revenue at Le Gaga rose 41 per cent to 281 million yuan ($41.4 million) in its fiscal year ended March 31, its filing showed. The company's profit increased 82 per cent.

Le Gaga operates 16 farms in the Chinese provinces of Fujian, Guangdong and Hebei, according to its filing. Le Gaga uses greenhouses to grow vegetables at most of its farms in Fujian and Guangdong.

Its two farms in Hebei produce vegetables that grow best in a cooler climate, the filing showed.

Asian economies will grow 6.6 per cent next year, according to the Washington-based International Monetary Fund. China's economy will expand 9.6 per cent.

In the US, where at least 55 companies have postponed or withdrawn IPOs this year, economic growth will slow to 2.3 per cent in 2011, the estimates show.

Search for yield

Benchmark interest rates near zero per cent in the US have also increased demand for higher-yielding assets, leading more investors to IPOs, said Jason Cooper, who oversees $2.5 billion at 1st Source Investment Advisors in South Bend, Indiana.

"People are finding a hard time to continue to put money into assets that are earning very little and will continue to earn very little," Cooper said. "People are reassessing how much risk they're willing to take."

That's "probably helped the IPO market," he said.

Companies from Asia have led the rebound. JinkoSolar Holding Co., the maker of silicon wafers in China's Jiangxi province, has gained 174 per cent. HiSoft Technology International Ltd., the Dalian, China-based company that helps businesses outsource software development, rose 166 per cent.

Gurgaon, India-based MakeMyTrip Ltd., India's largest online travel company, climbed 158 per cent.

The last two Chinese IPOs this month, Beijing-based TAL Education Group, and Mecox Lane Ltd. of Shanghai, both advanced at least 50 per cent on their first day of trading.

Week's offerings

Seven companies are seeking to raise a combined $1.02 billion through US IPOs this week, which would be the most in four months, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The first four will come from companies outside the US Xueda Education Group and SinoTech Energy Ltd. of Beijing will offer ADRs after three of the five Chinese companies that completed US IPOs this month climbed at least 40 per cent.