Wits Basin Precious Minerals (fka WITM)

[sukycospito]

Hong Kong bourse woos Asian companies for IPOs

HONG KONG: Hong Kong, which surpassed the United States to be the world’s second-most popular place for IPOs after London last year thanks to listings from China, aims to woo IPOs from abroad as more Chinese firms stay home to list.

Hong Kong relies heavily on the mainland for new listings. But as the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses rebound from a five-year slide and resumed initial public offerings last June after a year-long break, Hong Kong is looking further afield.

“We have visited Vietnam, Russia, South Korea, Kuala Lumpur and Kazakhstan. We will make more trips in the next three months,” Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. Chief Executive Paul Chow told reporters on the first trading day after the Lunar New Year.

In its latest three-year plan, released last month, the Hong Kong bourse said it wanted to serve the rest of Asia.

Competition for listings is fierce. Bourses from the London Stock Exchange to Singapore Exchange have for years been looking beyond their home markets for IPOs.

Chow acknowledged that it would be difficult to attract Russian companies to Hong Kong instead of London.

He said London’s role for Eastern European firms is similar to Hong Kong’s for Chinese companies but he expects more overseas companies to pick Hong Kong for IPOs in the next two years.

Credit Suisse and HSBC have brought Malaysia-based Samling Global Ltd to Hong Kong in a market debut set for Friday. Sydney-listed Sino Gold is also seeking a dual listing in Hong Kong next month in a deal being handled by Morgan Stanley

“We’ll see more pan-Asia companies seeking listings in Hong Kong, especially those in the resources space,” said George Taylor, a Morgan Stanley managing director, citing attractive valuations.

Wits Basin Precious Minerals Inc, a South African explorer listed on the Nasdaq’s over-the-counter bulletin board which plans to buy mining properties in China, is also seeking a back-door Hong Kong listing through the purchase of a 43 percent stake in Easyknit Holdings Ltd. The firm has said it was attracted to Hong Kong’s liquidity.

Expanding: Hong Kong now accepts overseas issuers registered in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and mainland China, with foreign firms listed in Hong Kong typically registered in those three markets.

To lure IPOs from elsewhere, the Hong Kong bourse plans to issue a statement in early March aimed at clarifying listing procedures and reducing the work needed for IPOs from overseas. “We want companies, large and small, to come list in Hong Kong,” said Chow.

Since Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd became the first mainland China company to list in the territory in 1993, Hong Kong has seen Chinese firms raise US$84.5 billion over the past 13 years.

About 47 Taiwan firms, including Foxconn International, have listed on the Hong Kong bourse since 1992.

Investment bankers said they had been working with the Hong Kong bourse to seek opportunities beyond firms from mainland China and Taiwan.

“It’s an evolutionary process, it won’t happen overnight,” said a veteran banker with a European house. “It’s not only the bankers and their regulators. It’s about all the professionals involved, such as lawyers doing due diligence in Vietnam’s property titles, for example.” reuters

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C02%5C22%5Cstory_22-2-2007_pg5_33