HONG KONG: A lineup of heavy-hitting mainland companies is eyeing the Hong Kong stock market for fund-raising, as the rebounding benchmark Hang Seng Index is expected to hover around 20,000 for some time.

Among the most notable, China Metallurgical Group Corp (CMGC) is poised to offer the second largest IPO in the world this year.

CMGC is planning dual listings in Hong Kong and Shanghai as early as September to raise up to $4 billion, besting the record set by Visa Inc's $3.6 billion IPO in June.

The company aims to issue A-shares in Shanghai by mid-September and expects to launch an H-share offering in Hong Kong by the end of the same month, according to sources.

Morgan Stanley, CITIC Securities, CICC and Citigroup are joint book runners.

A state-owned metallurgy giant, CMGC is also one of the largest equipment manufacturers on the mainland, and the only central government-owned enterprise that is authorized to run pulp-making and papermaking businesses in China and overseas. It engages in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), as well as natural resources exploitation, papermaking, equipment fabrication and real estate development.

Another player making a big IPO move is China Pacific Insurance. The long-awaited Hong Kong float of the Shanghai-based insurer is scheduled for late this year, according to Caijing magazine, citing sources with knowledge of the deal.

The public float is estimated to raise at least 23.5 billion yuan based on its price of Shanghai's A share.

The company pledged not to list shares in Hong Kong at a value below its Shanghai IPO of 30 yuan apiece when it first planned a dual-listing in 2007, thus deferring its Hong Kong IPO plan as the market plunged last year.

(HK Edition 08/07/2009 page3)