China's Longfor jumps 13% in Hong Kong debut

"China's Longfor jumps 13% in Hong Kong debut | AboutHK.Com - More Information About HK"

MarketWatch Shares of Longfor Properties Co. ended 13% higher Thursday, their Hong Kong trading debut garnering attention after billionaire George Soros and the state investment funds of China and Singapore reportedly were among cornerstone investors in the offering. The Chongqing-based developer (HK:960 8.01, 0.00, 0.00%) had risen as much as 15% from the initial offer price of 7.07 Hong Kong dollars (91 U.S. cents) before easing back to end at HK$8.01. The gains in the initial public offering came in spite of a downbeat session that saw the benchmark Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI 22,643, -197.17, -0.86%) off 0.9%. Longfor priced its shares at the upper end of the range indicated in marketing literature, raising $912 million in the IPO. Analysts said Longfor is drawing attention from big funds because of its market position as a high-quality developer as well as a hefty pipeline of 35 projects reportedly underway in mainly first-tier cities such as like Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu. Indeed, five big investors took stakes of up to $50 million each, amounting to a combined $197.5 million, before the main marketing efforts for the IPO got underway, reports said. Identified as large buyers of shares were HongKong Land Holdings Ltd., Ping An Insurance Group Co. of China Ltd (HK:2318 71.15, -1.60, -2.20%) and Bank of China Group Investment Ltd., as well as Singapore's state-owned companies -- Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. and Government of Singapore Investment Corp. China Investment Corp., Beijing's sovereign wealth fund, and Soros also applied to buy shares in the company, according to Dow Jones Newswires, which cited a person familiar with the situation.