Report: COSCO gets O.K. for $2 billion IPO

Report: COSCO gets O.K. for $2 billion IPO    COSCO Holdings, the newly formed liner shipping, port and container leasing arm of state-owned China Ocean Shipping Co., has received approval from the Hong Kong stock exchange for its $1.5 billion to $2 billion initial public offering, Hong Kong-based newspaper The Standard said in a report that cited unspecified market sources.
   COSCO has been expected for months to confirm rumors that COSCO Holdings will place shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange in June to raise HK$11.7 billion ($1.5 billion) to HK$15.6 billion ($2 billion).
   In March, COSCO started formal procedures to introduce COSCO Holdings to the Hong Kong exchange through a listing. COSCO Holdings will act as an umbrella for the group’s wholly owned container carrier, COSCO Container Lines, and for its partly owned, Hong Kong-listed port and container-leasing subsidiary, COSCO Pacific.
   China Shipping Container Lines, a competitor of COSCO Container Lines, completed its initial public offering in Hong Kong last year.