China Merchants Securities to Slash Size of Hong Kong IPO
May 16 2016 - 3:50AM
Dow Jones News
HONG KONG—China Merchants Securities Co. has cut the expected
size of its Hong Kong initial public offering by more than half due
to poor market conditions and lower valuations of comparable
companies in its sector.
The Shenzhen-based brokerage filed for its IPO with Hong Kong's
stock exchange on Friday. Although financial terms of the IPO
weren't disclosed, people familiar with the situation said the
company is now looking to raise less than half of the previously
reported $4 billion to $5 billion amount.
In June, The Wall Street Journal reported that China Merchants
planned to raise up to $5 billion in a Hong Kong IPO, which was
initially planned to launch in the fourth quarter of 2015. However,
the company's IPO plans were put in motion before China's stock
market plummeted last summer. Valuations for comparable companies
have subsequently fallen, which forced the company to rethink how
much it would raise from its offer, the people said.
China Merchants has yet to set a concrete amount that it plans
to raise, one of the people said.
Peer brokerages Huatai Securities Co. and GF Securities Co. both
raised more than they expected in Hong Kong IPOs when the market
was booming in the first half of 2015. They are now trading below
their IPO prices.
China Merchants plans to use part of the IPO's proceeds to
develop its brokerage and wealth-management business, which
includes expanding its margin-financing and securities-lending
units, according to the Friday filing. It will also contribute
additional capital to China Merchants Futures, its futures
subsidiary, as well as expanding its overseas business.
In the first quarter, the company's net profit slid more than
60% from a year earlier.
China Merchants, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley
are working on the offering.
China Merchants is one of at least three large Chinese
securities firms looking to raise money in Hong Kong this year.
Others include Orient Securities Co., Citigroup Inc.'s China
securities joint-venture partner, which is looking to raise $1
billion or more in the coming months, as well as Everbright
Securities Co., one of mainland China's largest brokerages.
Write to Kane Wu at Kane.Wu@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 16, 2016 03:35 ET (07:35 GMT)
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