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.

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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.

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