Report: China Shipping Container to go ahead with IPO
China Shipping Container Lines will go ahead with a planned initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange in the next few weeks, according to reports in Asia.
Reuters reported unnamed sources as saying the Chinese company will start the promotion next week for an IPO to raise up to $2 billion, with a listing scheduled for June.
China Shipping plans to use the proceeds of its public offering “to buy and build more ships,” Reuters said.
However, the IPO will come as the stock market is starting to shun Chinese stocks because of concerns over China putting the brakes on its economic growth.
China Shipping has a fleet of 66 owned containerships and 46 chartered vessels with total vessel capacity of about 117,000 TEUs. By the end of the year, it expects to own 68 vessels and charter 45 ships, for a total capacity of about 133,000 TEUs.
A China Shipping spokesman could not comment on industry expectations that the company will deploy its first 8,000-TEU ship in the transpacific trade this summer.
China Shipping Container Lines is fully owned by state-controlled China Shipping Group, based in Shanghai.