Report: COSCO Lines “planning IPO” next year

Report: COSCO Lines “planning IPO” next year

Report: COSCO Lines “planning IPO” next year

   Government-owned COSCO Container Lines is planning to emulate fellow Chinese carrier China Shipping Container Lines with its own initial public offering in the first half of next year, Hong Kong-based newspaper The Standard said today.
   According to the report, the Chinese carrier plans to raise HK$15.6 billion ($2 billion) to HK$23.4 billion ($3 billion) from an initial stock offering in Hong Kong. The newspaper does not say what percentage of the equity of COSCO Container Lines would be placed on the stock exchange.
   If confirmed, the IPO will mean a major change of policy for China’s largest container carrier, part of the Beijing-based China Ocean Shipping Co. group, and will publicize its financial results for the first time.
   According to a recent American Shipper survey, COSCO Container Lines was the world’s ninth-largest container shipping company in July, when measured in containership capacity, ahead of China Shipping Container Lines.
   In June, China Shipping Container Lines raised $1 billion from its IPO on the Hong Kong stock exchange, by selling a 40-percent stake in the formerly state-owned company to the private sector.
   There have been earlier reports that COSCO Container Lines was considering an IPO.
   The COSCO group already has several publicly listed affiliates on the Hong Kong and Singapore stock exchanges, notably its very profitable, Hong Kong-listed port and leasing arm, COSCO Pacific Ltd.
   COSCO Container Lines, based in Shanghai, is the result of the merger in 1997 of COSCO's container division in Beijing and COSCO Shanghai.
   COSCO said its container arm owns and operates more than 120 container vessels totaling 256,000 TEUs. It is largest liner carrier in China and operates some 50 scheduled routes worldwide.
   COSCO Container Lines handles some 4 million TEUs a year, accounting for about 5 percent of global box traffic.