Two Chinese IPOs still find favour despite recent deluge of listings

Hong Kong: Strong demand for a piece of a China property company and a brokerage show that selected initial public offerings (IPOs) are still being coveted despite investor fatigue with the surge of new listings.

Chinese property developer Longfor Properties Co raised $912 million (Dh3.35 billion) yesterday, pricing its Hong Kong IPO at the top end of an indicated range, according to two sources close to the deal.

Billionaire investor George Soros bought HK$200 million (Dh94.8 million) worth of shares, while the $293 billion sovereign fund China Investment Corp (CIC) also invested through the international tranche, another source said.

Hong Kong stocks rose to 15-month highs on Wednesday, which, Leung said, makes investors shift to IPOs as their valuations are lower than listed companies.

Top spot

Asia has emerged as the world's top spot for companies tapping markets for funds this year as the region's economies inch out of recession, though the abundant supply is also keeping high price expectations in check. Longfor sold 1 billion shares, or 20 per cent of its enlarged share capital, at HK$7.07 each, compared with an indicative range of HK$6.06 to HK$7.10, according to the sources. The pricing near the top end of the range indicates that there is still demand for Chinese property IPOs despite a glut of offerings.

Separately, China Merchants Securities Co, which plans to raise up to 11.1 billion yuan (Dh5.97 billion) through an initial public share offer in Shanghai, said yesterday its IPO has been nearly 94 times subscribed. The medium-sized brokerage said it plans to sell 358.55 million shares at 31 yuan apiece, the top end of an indicated price range, in China's third brokerage IPO.