Sunshine Oilsands postpones Hong Kong IPO roadshow
Sunshine Oilsands, a Canadian oil exploration company backed by Hong Kong private equity firm Cross-Strait Common Development Fund as well as several Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs), is postponing its IPO roadshow to sometime next week.
The company is seeking to raise up to $700 million through a Hong Kong listing and originally planned to begin order-taking from institutional investors on February 6 with a view to opening to retail investors on February 9. It was expected to be the biggest IPO in Hong Kong since Chow Tai Fook Jewellery raised $2 billion in December 2011.
However, the company opted to postpone in order to attract investors in Canada, who are more familiar with resource technologies, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the situation. This requires additional time to distribute an offering circular in Canada.
The Hang Seng Index is up 13% so far this year, following a 20% decline in 2011, but retail investors are said to be more interested in blue chip stocks, which are currently at attractive valuations, than new offerings.
Sunshine Oilsands may also struggle to win over investors because it has yet to turn a profit. According to BOC International, the company is unlikely to see positive income streams before 2014 as all of its projects are in the exploration stage. It is estimated the company posted a net loss of $77 million last year.
Calgary-based Sunshine counts China Life Insurance and Bank of China among its SOE backers. The company owns 4,600 square kilometers of oil sands leases in the Athabasca oil sands in Canada's Alberta province.
More on Greater China
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.