China Tourism Group Duty Free, which runs China’s biggest duty-free retail network, is planning an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong that could raise as much as $2 billion, Reuters reported Friday (Aug. 12).
The offering is fully subscribed, and the stock is likely to begin trading Aug. 25, according to the report. As is common with China-related exchanges, shares will be offered at a discount to start.
“After the tepid performance by Tianqi Lithium, the only way they could get away with the China Tourism deal was by offering it at a decent discount,” Aequitas Research Director Sumeet Singh said, per the report. “If it does go well, other deals should follow as the pipeline for Hong Kong deals is now fairly full and needs to get moving soon.”
The company had planned an IPO for late last year but scrapped that plan due to “sluggish market conditions,” the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported Wednesday (Aug. 10).
The government-owned company, according to the South China Morning Post, plans to use proceeds from the IPO to open new stores in rail stations and airports and at seaports and border crossings, SCMP reported.
In other IPO news, Instacart will likely go public before the end of the year, a move coming earlier than expected.
Read more: Instacart Eyes IPO Before Year’s End, Report Says
The company is looking into a traditional IPO, which would raise cash to be used for future acquisitions, but nothing is set in stone yet, and things could change depending on a variety of factors.
The new IPO news comes during an extremely slow market for new stock listings. This year has been one of the worst for IPOs in more than a decade.
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