COSCO listing on Hong Kong stock exchange approved

COSCO listing on Hong Kong stock exchange approved    The Hong Kong stock exchange has approved the listing of China COSCO Holdings Co. Ltd., whose shares will start trading Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
   The announcement marks the final step of the initial public offering of China COSCO Holdings, the parent company of COSCO Container Lines.
   China COSCO Holdings confirmed today its shares will be sold at HK$4.25 (55 cents) each, the lower end of its proposed price range of HK$4.25 to HK$5.75. The money raised from the IPO for 2.24 billion “H” shares will total HK$9.5 billion ($1.2 billion).
   China COSCO Holdings revised its share issue plan by raising from 90 percent to 95 percent the proportion of shares issued to institutional investors and reducing from 10 percent to 5 percent the portion sold to retail investors. Retail investors offered to buy only 51 percent of the shares available to them, while the institutional offering was “more than three times subscribed,” China COSCO Holdings reported.
   Following China Shipping Container Lines, COSCO becomes the second major Chinese container carrier listed on the stock exchange, two moves that will subject the Chinese companies to the stock market discipline and reporting requirements already experienced by their carrier competitors in other countries.
   However, like China Shipping Container Lines, China COSCO Holdings will remain majority-controlled by Chinese state-owned entities.