Everbright raises $1.6b in Shanghai IPO

Everbright Securities raised US$1.6 billion in the first initial public offering by a Chinese brokerage in close to seven years, Bloomberg reported. Everbright sold 179 million shares, 24.5% of the 520 million shares available, for US$3.08 per share in an offline offering, according to documents filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The remaining 341 million shares were oversubscribed by a factor of 116 by institutional and retail investors participating in an online sale. Everbright, which is China’s 11th-largest brokerage by assets, will begin trading its shares in Shanghai no later than August 19, according to previous comments by Luo Zhefu, the brokerage’s vice chairman. The firm’s profits jumped by 20% in the six months leading up to June 30, recovering from a 71% drop in earnings in 2008 as weakened stock markets decreased trading.