China Tourism Group Duty Free Corp is set to price its shares at HK$158 each to raise up to $2.07 billion in its Hong Kong listing, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
Shanghai-listed China Tourism sold 102.76 million shares in the largest share sale in Hong Kong so far this year. The sources could not be named as the information was not yet public.
China Tourism did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The final price was towards the upper end of the HK$143.50 to HK$165.50 range flagged when the deal was launched last Friday.
China Tourism is a major duty free network operator in mainland China, with 200 duty free stores in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Cambodia, according to its filings.
The deal’s bookbuild was carried out as Hainan, the company’s biggest mainland market, was locked down due to a COVID outbreak.
Holiday city Sanya on the southern end of Hainan island reported 4,393 symptomatic and 6,099 asymptomatic cases from Aug. 1 through Aug. 17.
China Tourism‘s deal surpasses Tianqi Lithium’s $1.71 billion listing to become the biggest share sale in Hong Kong in 2022. Its shares are due to start trading in Hong Kong on Aug. 25.
Currently, duty-free spending in China is largely concentrated in Hainan, where the annual limit on individual duty-free spending was hiked to 100,000 yuan ($14,800) in 2020 from 30,000 yuan previously.
China Tourism had aimed to raise about $6 billion in Hong Kong last year, but put the deal on hold in December because of the impact of the pandemic and volatile financial markets.
Reuters