Cosco's A-shares to start trading

(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-06-25 13:40

Shares of China Cosco Holdings Co, Asia's largest container line, will start trading in Shanghai tomorrow after the company sold 15 billion yuan (US$1.97 billion) of stock to buy new ships and a stake in a logistics company.

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Investors bought 1.78 billion A shares, representing a 20 percent stake in the company, China Cosco said in a Hong Kong stock exchange statement today, according to Bloomberg. The shares were sold at 8.48 yuan each, the top end of the price range, the Tianjin, eastern China-based company said on June 20.

China Cosco plans to spend 6 billion yuan of the sale proceeds on 12 new vessels, according to a share sale document. It will also use 1.68 billion yuan to buy a 51 percent stake in Cosco Logistics from its state-owned parent Cosco Group and another 401 million yuan for projects being developed by the logistics unit.

The company sold 535 million shares to strategic investors, 356.9 million to institutional investors and 891.9 million to individual investors. Strategic investors have to hold their shares for a year, while the lock-up period for institutional investors is three months, the company said on June 20. China International Capital Corp arranged the sale.

The Shanghai-listed shares were sold at a 20 percent discount to the June 18 closing price of China Cosco's Hong Kong-listed stock.

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