China CNR nets $2b in Shanghai IPO

Rail car maker China CNR Corp held its initial public offering in Shanghai, raising US$2 billion, Bloomberg reported. China CNR sold 2.5 billion shares for RMB5.56 (US$0.81) each, valuing CNR at slightly more than 49 times its 2008 earnings. The company said it would use the proceeds from the sale to produce high-speed trains and parts, and import related technology. The company attracted investors who expect China CNR to continue seeing benefits from government spending on infrastructure, which will include US$732 billion by 2020 on rail alone. The share sale brought to US$29.1 billion the total value of IPOs in China this year. Before the China CNR IPO, China had already become the world’s biggest market for IPOs this year.