Blue Moon raises $1.27 bln in Hong Kong IPO, sources (updated)

Blue Moon Metals

09/12/2020 03:22

(Adds detail on deal)
    By Scott Murdoch and Kane Wu
    HONG KONG, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Chinese detergent maker Blue
Moon Group Holdings  6993.HK  will raise $1.27 billion in its
Hong Kong IPO after pricing its shares at HK$13.16, according to
three sources with direct knowledge of the matter.
    The price was at the top of the HK$10.20 to HK$13.16 flagged
by the company when the deal launched last Friday, according to
a term sheet.
    The sources could not be identified as the information had
not yet been made public.
    Blue Moon did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
    Blue Moon, backed by private equity group Hillhouse Capital,
sold 747.1 million shares in the deal which gives the company a
market capitalization of up to nearly $10 billion.
    Hillhouse will exercise some its anti dilution subscription
option to maintain its stake at 9.3%, the term sheet showed.
    A further 112 million shares can be sold as part of a
so-called greenshoe option within the next 30 days.
    Six cornerstone investors led by Veritas Asset Management,
the British investment fund, have taken a $235 million in the
Blue Moon deal that accounts for nearly 21% of the IPO,
according to the term sheet.
    Blue Moon's prospectus showed its net profit for the first
half of 2020 reached HK$302 million ($38.96 million), up nearly
40% from the same time the previous year.
    The company plans to spend more than half of the IPO
proceeds on building up its sales and distribution networks and
a third of the money raised in expanding its production
capacity, according to its prospectus.

  


($1 = 7.7511 Hong Kong dollars)

 (Reporting by Scott Murdoch and Kane Wu in Hong Kong; Editing
by Stephen Coates and Kim Coghill)
 ((Scott.Murdoch@thomsonreuters.com;))