WRAPUP 1-Sands, Minsheng seek combined $7.35 bln in Hong Kong
* LV Sands, China's Minsheng set range for Hong Kong IPOs
* IPOs would be in the top five of 2009 in terms of size
* Companies seeking public offering while window is open
By Kennix Chim and Michael Flaherty
HONG KONG, Nov 8 (Reuters) - A Las Vegas casino company and a Chinese bank have set the price range for their upcoming Hong Kong stock offerings, hoping to raise up to $7.35 billion combined in what would be the world's fourth- and fifth-largest IPOs of the year.
Gaming group Las Vegas Sands (LVS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) seeks up to $3.35 billion through an initial public offering of shares in its Macau business, sources with direct knowledge of the IPO said on Sunday [ID:nHKG221837].
The top-end of the range is higher than the roughly $2.5 billion the market had been expecting and comes on the same day that news appeared of China Minsheng Banking Corp's own IPO price range [ID:nSP400540].
China Minsheng Banking Corp, the country's seventh-largest bank, plans to raise as much as $4.07 billion in its November Hong Kong listing, according to a term sheet obtained by Reuters on Sunday. Minsheng (600016.SS: Quote, Profile, Research), which is already listed in Shanghai, was the first listed non-state lender in China, and has never received government support in terms of carving out bad assets.
The two listings are hitting the Hong Kong IPO market at a delicate time. Money flows into this high-growth region, combined with a strong economy and a red-hot stock market, have led to a surge of equity offerings. Despite an IPO market that seems crowded, the pipeline of equity deals remains long and contains several other multibillion-dollar listings. Continued...
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