Burberry’s Hong Kong listing doesn’t check

HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – Hardly a week passes without a new high-end brand announcing its intention to list in Hong Kong, and the financial pages there are fast reading like a luxury shopping mall directory. After Prada S.p.A., Samsonite, Coach Inc. and Jimmy Choo [since agreed to be sold to Austria’s Labelux], Burberry Group PLC, according to a Chinese media report, is said to be considering a quotation in Hong Kong to support its expansion in China. But such a move, which smacks of herd mentality, would not impact trading volumes or improve the valuation of the company.

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China Economic Review article

“IPO: A Global Guide” featured on 1 June in an article published in the China Economic Review on the subject of the liberalization of China’s financial system, and on the future of Hong Kong as a financial centre.

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Kazakhmys digs for Hong Kong investors

HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – Kazakhmys PLC, an LSE-listed natural resources group with its main assets in Kazakhstan, has filed to list in Hong Kong by the end of June. This is aimed at raising its profile in the region, which accounts for almost half of its revenue. With no new money to be raised and no shares to be sold, the deal itself will do little for investors but there may be action for bankers, including M&A and financing deals, down the line.

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Reuters Television interview

The following interview was aired today at 10:00am Hong Kong time on Reuters Television, as part of a news package on the proposed Shanghai International Board. read

Coach’s listing in Hong Kong a PR stunt?

US handbags and accessories house Coach Inc. is the latest in a long list of fashion and consumer groups to seek a listing in Hong Kong. As structured, however, the proposed transaction is likely to do little beyond generating press coverage for the brand, but perhaps that’s what it’s aimed at? read

Hong Kong’s second handover

HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – It would be a landmark: Chinese brokerage CITIC Securities Co. Ltd. has reportedly appointed Bank of China Ltd’s Bank of China International (BOCI), China Construction Bank (CCB) International and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to lead its forthcoming share offering and listing in Hong Kong, said to be around US$2.5 billion.

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The double edge of Glencore’s cornerstones

The total number of shares subscribed for by cornerstone investors in Glencore’s IPO, which is targeting proceeds of about US$10 billion (excluding a 10% over-allotment option), is expected to represent approximately 31% of the global offer, assuming the overallotment option is not exercised. The US$3.1 billion tranche therefore represents one of the largest cornerstone books by value ever achieved for an IPO. But there are consequences to the practice, which could come back and haunt the issuer as well as other investors in the company. read

RTHK 3 radio interview

I was interviewed on 9 May 2011 on Hong Kong’s RTHK 3 radio in the “Hong Kong Today” early morning show by business news presenter Nick Beacroft, on the subject of the proposed international board of the Shanghai Stock Stock Exchange. read

Harvesting China’s savings in Shanghai

HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – The long-awaited international board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) apparently is inching closer to becoming a reality. But its offerings are likely to be dominated by Chinese companies incorporated offshore, and, if history is any guide, listing there is likely to do little in the long run for truly international businesses.

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Golden horde of bankers seeks Mongolia’s riches

HONG KONG (Dow Jones Investment Banker) – Mongolia’s top 20 index is up more than 50% in local terms this year, but trading volumes remain diminutive. This could all change with the proposed listing of coal mining behemoth Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi (Erdenes TT), whose name means “five heads” in Mongolian. While lead banks have been appointed, their exact roles are said to remain fluid, and a gaggle of global houses is still competing to find its way into the offering, which will raise Mongolia’s profile on the international stage. Indeed, the fortunes of Mongolian IPOs will continue to rely heavily on international institutional investors.

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