PetroChina plans to debut on the Shanghai bourse in October by
raising at least 40 billion yuan, in a bid to tap the red-hot
mainland equity market.
PetroChina, the Hong Kong-listed arm of China National Petroleum
Corporation (CNPC), the nation's No 1 oil and gas group, will issue
4 billion A shares at around 10 yuan each, which will probably
account for approximately 2 percent of its enlarged share capital,
a CNPC executive told China Daily yesterday.
"The new shares will be priced on the basis of PetroChina's
share price in Hong Kong. The indicative price for the initial
public offering might hover around 10 yuan".
If thus priced, it will be the mainland's biggest IPO this
year.
The oil giant has chosen UBS Securities Co, China International
Capital Corp and CITIC Securities Co to underwrite the highly
anticipated offering, the source said. "We have tentatively set
October for the listing."
The Beijing-based company will hold a shareholders' meeting on
August 22 to approve its IPO plan, the source said.
But in a statement in June, the company had said its
shareholders would vote on the offering on August 10.
The draft prospectus was submitted to the China Securities
Regulatory Commission last Friday.
The proceeds from the IPO will fund the company's construction
of refinery, petrochemical and gas pipeline projects, overseas
acquisition of petroleum and gas resources and the development of
its domestic petroleum and gas resources.
PetroChina is the latest State-owned conglomerate listed
overseas seeking a mainland listing. China is encouraging its
flagship State-owned companies listed in Hong Kong and elsewhere to
list on the mainland, which could help soak up excess liquidity and
increase the supply of new shares.
PetroChina posted a 3.7 percent production increase in the first
half of the year.
The company began trading in Hong Kong and its American
Depositary Receipts were also listed on the New York Stock Exchange
in 2000.
(China Daily August 8, 2007)
