HKBN Raises $750 Million in Hong Kong IPO

HONG KONG--Broadband-services provider HKBN Ltd. raised US$750 million after pricing its Hong Kong initial public offering at the top end of the price range, people familiar with the situation said Thursday, making it the largest IPO in the city this year.

Private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners and other shareholders, including Singapore sovereign-wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd., sold 645 million shares at 9 Hong Kong dollars (US$1.16) each, at the top end of an indicative price range of HK$8-HK$9, the people said.

CVC will hold about a 14.4% stake in HKBN after listing, compared with 70.7% currently, if no overallotment option is exercised, while GIC will hold a 9.9% stake, down from 11.3%. The firm is scheduled to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on March 12.

Before the start of taking orders from institutional investors on Feb. 24, more than a quarter of the offering had been presold to the cornerstone investor, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which agreed to buy and hold the shares for six months. The Canadian pension fund has bought around US$200 million in HKBN.

The offering is the largest in Hong Kong this year and one of the biggest in Asia, after the US$1.7 billion February listing by Jasmine Broadband Internet Growth Infrastructure Fund in Bangkok.

Hong Kong, usually a powerhouse for big China listings, has had a slow start this year, with just US$291 million raised in IPOs, according to Dealogic, compared with US$4.1 billion in the same period last year.

Goldman Sachs Group, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and UBS AG are the lead banks for the transaction.

Write to Prudence Ho at [e-mail]

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