Ningbo Port to launch IPO on Shanghai bourse

NINGBO Port Company has filed its prospectus last week to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, planning to raise CNY13.25 billion (US$1.9 billion) in the IPO.

Proceeds would be used to develop port projects and purchase new port equipment as well as supplement working capital, it was cited as saying in the prospectus, reports Paris-based newsletter Alphaliner.



Ningbo Port plans to issue up to 2.5 billion A shares denominated in Yuan, or 18.8 per cent of its expanded share capital. It also aims to issue 2.35 billion Hong Kong-listed H shares, although it has yet to work out the details.



The existing shareholders of the company are Ningbo Port Group (90 per cent), China Merchants (5.4 per cent) and six other smaller Ningbo-based investors (4.6 per cent).



The company had originally planned for a dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2008, but the plan was shelved amid the economic downturn and falling port volumes.



Ningbo handled 10.5 million TEU in 2009, a decline of 6.4 per cent compared to 2008. For the first four months of 2010, the port handled 3.8 million TEU, up 25 per cent year on year.