Sinotrans Shipping, one of the country's largest shipping companies in terms of self-owned dry bulk fleet size, had brought in Li Ka-shing and Lee Shau-kee as cornerstone investors for its planned US$1.47 billion initial public offering this month, market sources said.
The tycoons have each committed US$25 million, the same contribution as five other cornerstone investors: China Merchants Group, China Shipping Group, China Cosco Group, Ping An Insurance and investment firm Citadel.
Sinotrans Shipping, a unit of state-owned Sinotrans Group, plans to sell 1.4 billion new shares, representing 35 per cent of its enlarged share capital.
A greenshoe, which allows underwriters to sell additional shares if there is demand, could add 210 million shares to the offering, increasing it by almost 15 per cent.
Sinotrans Shipping, which will kick off a global roadshow today, had set the price range at between HK$7.18 and HK$8.18 a share, representing 12.4 times to 14.1 times forecast earnings for next year, sources said.
BOC International and UBS are arranging the share sale.
The company, which engages mainly in dry bulk and container vessel time chartering, originally planned to raise US$1 billion from the share offering but raised the target by 30 per cent due to the strong market sentiment and the recent rally in shipping stocks.
