Metallurgical Corp. of China and Sinopharm Group have raised a combined US$3.5 billion in initial public offerings (IPOs) in Hong Kong, Bloomberg reported, quoting unnamed sources close to the deals. Metallurgical Corp., a state-owned construction and engineering company, raised HK$18.2 billion (US$2.3 billion) while Sinopharm, China’s biggest drug company, raised HK$8.73 billion (US$1.1 billion). Sources also claimed that Sinopharm’s IPO drew around US$114 billion of orders, with investors seeking 600 times the stock that was avaliable. Francis Lun, the general manager of Hong Kong-based Fulbright Securities, said that investors were counting on China’s economy to keep moving forward. "With the kind of sentiment in the market at the moment, (investors) will go after the IPO of any company with a decent track record," he said. Sinopharm and Metallurgical Corp.’s combined IPOs exceeded the total value of Hong Kong IPOs in the first half of 2009.
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