Report: COSCO IPO to raise less than planned

Report: COSCO IPO to raise less than planned    The initial public offering of China COSCO Holdings, parent company of COSCO Container Lines, will raise just $1.2 billion amid lukewarm demand from investors, Reuters reported a source close to the deal as saying.
   The Beijing-based shipping, port and container leasing company was initially expected to raise about $1.6 billion from the stock market, but its entry in the stock market appears to have generated little interest despite COSCO Container Lines’ strong presence in the Chinese shipping market.
   Reuters said the IPO’s retail portion was undersubscribed, whereas the institutional portion of the transaction was 3.7 times covered.
   China COSCO Holding is selling about 2.2 billion shares at HK$4.25 (55 cents) each, the lower end of its proposed price range of HK$4.25 to HK$5.75, according to Reuters. The IPO price represents 6.7 times the HK$0.635 expected 2005 earnings per share.
   China COSCO Holdings said earlier it expects to announce the final price per share of the offer Wednesday and to see the start of share trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange Thursday.
   After the IPO, the state-owned COSCO group will retain a controlling shareholding of 63.5 percent in China COSCO Holdings.