JES International Holdings, a shipyard based in China, plans to raise as much as $250 million in an initial public offering in Singapore to boost production and pay down debt, sources close to the deal told Reuters.
The company, which filed a prospectus late on Monday, has a shipyard at Shiwei Port, Jingjiang City in Jiangsu Province in eastern China.
A source close to the deal told Reuters that the firm is looking to raise between $200 million to $250 million in the offering, likely in early December.
It plans to raise funds to finance the construction of a new production facility, repay a loan and for working capital.
ABN AMRO Rothschild and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp are lead managers for the IPO, according to the prospectus.
The prospectus said that the company had an order book of $1.03 billion by June 30, 2007, compared to $632.2 million at the end of December 2006, from European, Canadian and Asian shipping firms.
Singapore's capital markets have attracted shipping and oil services firms from India, Indonesia, Thailand and China, who are heading to the city-state in the hope of better valuations and strong investor appetite. "These companies are coming to Singapore because they are better understood by the market and there is a strong track record for companies who have earlier sought listing here," said Rohan Suppiah, senior investment analyst at Kim Eng Securities.
"If you look at the valuations of other Chinese shipyards such as Cosco and Yangzijiang they have done pretty well," he said.
Cosco Corp is trading at 32 times 2008 earnings, while Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings -- which raised $622 million in its listing in April -- trades at 27 times forward earnings, compared to the Straits Times Index which has a price-to-earnings ratio of 15 for 2008.
The city-state has also been luring shipping trusts with tax benefits similar to real estate investment trusts (REITs).
The company, which filed a prospectus late on Monday, has a shipyard at Shiwei Port, Jingjiang City in Jiangsu Province in eastern China.
A source close to the deal told Reuters that the firm is looking to raise between $200 million to $250 million in the offering, likely in early December.
It plans to raise funds to finance the construction of a new production facility, repay a loan and for working capital.
ABN AMRO Rothschild and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp are lead managers for the IPO, according to the prospectus.
The prospectus said that the company had an order book of $1.03 billion by June 30, 2007, compared to $632.2 million at the end of December 2006, from European, Canadian and Asian shipping firms.
Singapore's capital markets have attracted shipping and oil services firms from India, Indonesia, Thailand and China, who are heading to the city-state in the hope of better valuations and strong investor appetite. "These companies are coming to Singapore because they are better understood by the market and there is a strong track record for companies who have earlier sought listing here," said Rohan Suppiah, senior investment analyst at Kim Eng Securities.
"If you look at the valuations of other Chinese shipyards such as Cosco and Yangzijiang they have done pretty well," he said.
Cosco Corp is trading at 32 times 2008 earnings, while Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings -- which raised $622 million in its listing in April -- trades at 27 times forward earnings, compared to the Straits Times Index which has a price-to-earnings ratio of 15 for 2008.
The city-state has also been luring shipping trusts with tax benefits similar to real estate investment trusts (REITs).