皇冠体育app

Japanese retail investors buy 皇冠体育app Power IPO
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-10-11 14:21

Demand from Japanese retail investors for the 皇冠体育app Power International Development Ltd.鈥檚 initial public offering was overwhelming, with orders worth more than US$4 billion for the US$12.5 million in shares allocated, a source said Friday.

鈥淛apanese investors are convinced that the company has growth potential because of a planned asset injection by its parent company,鈥� said the source, referring to 皇冠体育app Power鈥檚 plan to acquire further generating assets from its parent, 皇冠体育app Power Investment Corp., in what would be a boost to earnings.

Tapping funds worth US$320 million, 皇冠体育app Power鈥檚 IPO is the smallest among the five Hong Kong-listed companies that have sold their shares to Japanese retail investors so far this year through the Public Offering Without Listing (POWL) program.

POWL is a process regulated by Japanese financial authorities that allows overseas listings to sell their shares to Japanese retail investors.

Impressed by the strong economic growth in 皇冠体育app, Japanese retail investors have, since 2002, invested at least US$1.26 billion on a spate of Hong Kong listings through the POWL process.

Although the amount of orders received from Japanese retail investors were well above 皇冠体育app Power鈥檚 total fund-raising size, Japanese investors have only been allocated 3.8 percent of the mainland power firm鈥檚 IPO 鈥� the lowest level among recent share sales.

The source said that was because Hong Kong retail investors received a bigger allocation of 皇冠体育app Power shares in view of the popularity of the offer, and two big institutional investors alone took up 18 percent of the total offering. The 皇冠体育app Power IPO鈥檚 retail tranche was 290 times subscribed, the source said.

The boom in POWL listings by Hong Kong firms slowed in the late 1990s, but resumed with the listing of BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Ltd. in July 2002. Since then, 11 Hong Kong-listed companies have gone the POWL route.

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