Graff Diamonds, a high-end jeweller, was supposed to have turned around Hong Kong’s moribund IPO market. It was not to be. Instead the company pulled its US$1 billion-equivalent listing on 30 May, piling more disappointment on an already massively downbeat market plagued by serial deal cancellations. What went wrong?

HONG KONG (Dow Jones Banking Intelligence) – Thailand’s Big C Supercenter PCL is planning to raise capital through the issue of new shares in a fairly modest private placement. Following the recent successful IPO of Tesco Lotus Retail Growth Freehold & Leasehold Property Fund, controlled by Tesco plc’s Thai unit, it should instead increase its free float through a larger, fully marketed offering, including a combination of new and old shares.

HONG KONG (Dow Jones Banking Intelligence) – Citigroup Inc.’s sale of its remaining stake in Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) comes as no surprise amid rising markets combined with a pressing need to find extra capital. Other Western firms have already been there in China over the last couple of years. Meanwhile Asian houses are seizing the opportunity to grow, on the back of their Western peers’ renewed asset dumps.