Housing News
- Guangdong News
Date: 11-Oct-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
EXCELLENCE Group, the largest property developer in Shenzhen's central business district, may raise US$1 billion in a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), said two people with direct knowledge of the matter yesterday.
Excellence Group may sell shares in the first half of 2008, said the people, declining to be identified as the information isn't public. Morgan Stanley and UBS AG were hired to arrange the sale, they said.
Mainland real estate companies have raised US$7.5 billion in Hong Kong in 2007, more than double the amount in the previous eight years combined. They are seeking funds to buy land and finance construction after the government tightened lending to the industry to curb what it calls excessive investment.
'Many developers are optimistic about the market, but don't have sufficient funds to support their rapid growth,'' said Bryan Chan, a senior manager in the research department of Colliers International's Guangzhou office.
Yin Zhaohui, a Shenzhen-based Excellence Group spokeswoman, confirmed the company's plan to go public, declining to provide details.
Gains in China's real estate prices accelerated in August as inflation reached a 10-year high, exceeding returns on savings accounts and encouraging people to invest in stocks and real estate.
Excellence, controlled by chairman Li Hua, focuses on high-end residential housing and office buildings. It has invested in properties in cities and provinces including Beijing, Shanghai and Hainan.
Ranked by the local land authority as Shenzhen's fourth-largest developer this year, Excellence has developed almost 2 million square meters of properties, according to its Web site. It has undeveloped land holdings of more than 8 million square meters.
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