Star street

18 November 2009 By John Foley Follow @johnsfoley

Every Asian IPO candidate wants a Goldman Sachs or a George Soros on the register. China s Minsheng Bank, Sands Macau and Longfor all boast famous names. Such endorsements may help bankers and firstday investors, but do less for the companies themselves, and for the markets.

This content is for Subscribers only

Context News

Longfor Properties, a Chinese property developer listing in Hong Kong, attracted a $26m investment from billionaire investor George Soros, according to Reuters. The IPO priced close to the top of its indicated range. Longfor also featured five cornerstone investors who invested a total $198m. They included Government of Singapore Investment Corp, Temasek Holdings and Ping An Insurance.

Minsheng Bank, a Chinese lender also listing in Hong Kong, won a $1.2bn investment from Hopu Investment Management, a private equity firm founded by two Goldman Sachs bankers, according to Reuters. Minsheng also had five cornerstone investors, including Ping An, who were guaranteed $340m worth of shares in return for a commitment to remain invested for several months.

Sands Macau, the Asian division of Las Vegas Sands, sold $600m of preIPO convertible bonds to Goldman Sachs, which convert into equity at a slight discount to the market price. Sands is due to begin trading on November 30.

Email a friend

Please complete the form below.

Required fields *