Haitong prices HK IPO at low end of range

Haitong Securities (600837.SH) has priced its upcoming US$1.7 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong near the bottom of its indicated range in a bid to entice investors, Reuters reported. Haitong, China’s second-biggest broker by assets after Citic Securities (600030.SH, 6030.HKG), said Friday it would price its shares at HK$10.60 (US$1.37) each, at the low end of its previously announced price range of HK$10.48-11.18. That means the Hong Kong shares will sell at a 16.7% discount to Haitong’s already-listed Shanghai shares when trading begins on April 27. “It always makes sense from a capital markets perspective to leave some money on the table,” said an unnamed source involved with the offering. Haitong may be pricing conservatively in an effort to avoid post-IPO share price declines; almost 75% of IPOs which raised more than US$250 million in 2011 in Asia (ex-Japan) traded below their offer price.