Air China priced its Hong Kong and London IPO yesterday December 9, raising HK$8.36 billion $1.08 billion pre greenshoe from the CICC and Merrill Lynch led deal. The 2.805 billion share offering was priced at HK$2.98, representing a 4% discount to the top end of a HK$2.35 to HK$3.10 indicative range.
The company and its lead managers appear to have taken a sensible approach to pricing, recognizing that bullish sentiment in the Hong Kong IPO market is currently being driven by liquidity rather than fundamentals. As such, Air China decided to give investors a small secondary market kicker despite the fact that the institutional order book...
