Soho China poised for Hong Kong listing

Beijing-based commercial property developer Soho China plans to raise around US$1 billion through an initial public offering in Hong Kong in October, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to documents seen by the newspaper, up to a third of the company will go public, with the funds raised earmarked for project development and general working capital. Soho is run by a husband-and-wife team that started out selling apartments but then moved into the commercial property sector where the profit margins are higher. It claims to have developed 1.55 million square meters, or 20%, of Beijing's central business district. In a recent interview, Soho CEO Zhang Xin said the company hasn't suffered as a result of government efforts to crack down on easy credit and limit land supply as it usually buys parcels of land from other developers. The IPO is being run by Godman Sachs, HSBC and UBS.