China's securities regulator formally okayed on Thursday the
initial public offering (IPO) of China Railway Construction
Corporation (CRCC), one of the nation's largest road and rail
project contractors.
The company received the formal approval by China Securities
Regulatory Commission for its plan to issue 2.8 billion
yuan-denominated A shares through the Shanghai Stock Exchange and
the prospectus will be released on Friday, said an official with
the commission.
The official, who required anonymity, didn't disclose the
specific date of listing at the Shanghai bourse.
The CRCC was preparing to issue another 1.8 to 2.07 billion
shares in Hong Kong and hoped the total capital raised in Shanghai
and Hong Kong could reach 4 billion U.S. dollars, according to the
company's prospectus submitted for approval last month.
It said the capital raised would be used to procure construction
facilities, expand the manufacturing capacity of mechanical
equipment and invest in properties and railways.
Citic Securities would lead the underwriting, said the
prospectus.
The CRCC established its name by building the Qinghai-Tibet
railroad, Shanghai maglev rail line and the Beijing-Kowloon
Railway. It also took the largest share in the bidding for civil
engineering of the long-delayed express railway linking Beijing and
Shanghai.
The company's total assets amounted to 155 billion yuan by the
end of November 2007, with net profit reaching 2.8 billion
yuan.
The Ministry of Railways said Tuesday it will expand reforms
that would transform state-owned railway contractors into joint
stock companies.
China plans to extend its total operating railway mileage to
100,000 kilometers by 2020 from 76,600 km at the end of 2006,
demanding an investment of about 2 trillion yuan (269 billion U.S.
dollars).
(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2008)
