GEM board to start accepting applications

Well the IPO floodgates have been flung open on the mainland, the latest sign of which is that the new long-awaited Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) board will start accepting applications. Listing applicants are expected to be from the biotech, IT, renewable energy and cleantech fields. The China Securities Regulatory Commission likes to keep us in suspense though – while applications are being accepted, it remains unclear when the GEM board would be up and running. The market rally has also convinced a number of firms to engage in some friendly capital raising. The latest to make a bid for extra bucks is Shanxi-based coking coal producer Fushan International Energy Group. The firm, and its vice chairman, are planning a US$316 million share placement in Hong Kong in order to fund acquisitions in China and overseas. Finally, the Philippine’s richest man, Henry Sy who heads SM Investments, intends to make a retail push on the mainland. The firm may open three shopping malls per year in China and already plans to spend US$115 million this year in China alone.