Three Gorges dam company seeks IPO
( 2002-09-09 11:24 ) (8 )

A spin-off company of the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corporation ( CYRTGPDC), which is in charge of building the Three Gorges Dam, will be set up later September as a CYRTGPDC move in seeking initial public offering next year, Monday's China Daily reports.

The subsidiary company, namely, the China Yangtze Electric Power Corporation, is expected to be listed on the domestic stock market in 2003, aiming to raise more than 360 million US dollars to finance the acquisition of the first two or three electricity generators in the Three Gorges Project, said Kou Riming, director of the new company's restructuring office.

The first four generators will have a combined capacity of 2.8 million kilowatts and are due on-stream between August and November in 2003. Another 22 generators will be installed in seven years, adding a capacity of 15.4 million kilowatts.

In order to support the listing, the central government has cut the value-added tax payable on the electricity generated by the Three Gorges project to eight percent from the 17 percent currently levied on China's other hydropower plants.

The parent firm CYRTGPDC will take an 89.5 percent stake in the new subsidiary after letting the latter incorporating assets of CYRTGPDC's Gezhouba plant.

China's energy giants China National Petroleum Corporation, China National Nuclear Corporation, and Huaneng Power International Power Development Corporation agreed in August to each invest 255 million yuan (30 million US dollars) for a three percent stake in the shareholding company. Two design and construction companies will have 1.5 percent stakes combined, according to the China Daily report.