China CNR IPO could raise up to $1.42 billion

China CNR Corp Ltd, the country's second-largest train maker, published its Hong Kong initial public offering plan and opened subscriptions on Monday. The IPO is expected to raise as much as HK$11 billion ($1.42 billion).

The Beijing-headquartered company plans to sell 1.82 billion shares globally with 182.12 million offered in Hong Kong. The subscription price is from HK$5 to HK$6.20 per share.

Subscriptions close on May 15 and trade is expected to start on May 22. UBS AG, China International Capital Corp Ltd and Macquarie Group Ltd are joint managers of the offering.

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CNR has reportedly secured three cornerstone investors - Dongfeng Motor Co Ltd is investing $40 million, while a Hong Kong subsidiary of China National Machinery Industry Corp and Shanghai-listed Jinxi Axle Co Ltd are set to buy $30 million worth of shares each.

The listing of CNR is the latest in a pipeline of companies trying to debut in Hong Kong this year. Not all the companies' plans worked out.

The world's largest pork meat processor WH Group, previously known as Shuanghui International, dropped its plan to generate as much as $5.3 billion in Hong Kong on April 29. The aborted offering would have been the biggest in three years.

It got a lukewarm reaction from global investors.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China's largest shopping website, and AS Watson Group also pulled their multibillion-dollar IPOs in Hong Kong.

"The CNR offering is a sizable one," Stanley Chik, research manager of Bright Smart Securities in Hong Kong, said. "There could be a lot of pressure given that market sentiment is not excited at this moment. Till the mid of this year, we think the atmosphere would remain prudent. It could be hard, particularly for larger-sized IPOs."

He pointed out that sentiment is not so bad as to kill all IPOs.

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