GIC among cornerstone investors in Sun Art Retail IPO
The Government of Singapore Investment Corp. (GIC) is one of nine cornerstone investors that have committed $420 million for up to 40% of Chinese supermarket operator Sun Art Retail Group's Hong Kong IPO.
Sun Art will sell 1.14 billion shares at HK$5.65-$7.20 apiece, with a view to raising up to $1.1 billion, which would represent 25-32x its anticipated 2011 earnings. According to Reuters, the other pre-IPO investors are Tiger Global Management, Owl Creek, Arisaig Asia, Brookside, Carmignac Gestion, Gaoling Fund, General Atlantic and a subsidiary of Malaysia's Khazanah.
Sun Art is a joint venture between Taiwan's Ruentex Group and French retailer Groupe Auchan. It currently runs nearly 200 hypermarkets across China under the Auchan and RT-Mart brands. The proceeds of the offering will predominantly be used to upgrade existing marts and open new ones across the country as well as repay bank loans, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Citigroup, HSBC and UBS are said to be the global coordinators and bookrunners for the deal, while BNP Paribas, China International Capital Corp., Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the remaining bookrunners.
The news comes the same day that menswear retailer Orchid Asia-backed China Outfitters Holdings postponed its $299 million Hong Kong IPO due to market volatility. Prada and PE-backed Samsonite, the most-hyped Hong Kong listings in recent weeks, both debuted at the bottom ends of their ranges, and have since seen their shares slip further.
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