Chemical giant seeks billion dollar Shanghai IPO
China's largest supplier of chemical products is set to raise 35bn yuan on the Shanghai Composite Index
Sinochem Corp. has announced they will seek a 35 billion yuan ($5.5bn) initial public offering (IPO), in what could be the sixth largest IPO ever on the turbulent Shanghai equity market.
The company plans to sell as much as 40% of its enlarged capital, or 26.5 billion new shares, according to a statement from the Ministry of Environment, which authorises all fund-raising from pollution generating companies such as chemical plants, miners and oil refinery operations.
Sinochem is involved in a wide range of enterprises, including oil exploration and refining. In July this year, the company won government approval to build a 240,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Quanzhou, Fujian province and will use the IPO proceeds to start developing the project.
Although there has been at least one IPO on every trading day this year, with an average value of 979 million yuan ($154m), not every company has managed to raise their target amounts. Sinohydro, a builder of electric dams, fell short of its original $2.7 billion target by 22% and its stock price is now trading at around 7% below its IPO price.
