HKBN IPO priced at top of range as CVC, GIC, Carlyle raise $710 mln (updated)

i-CABLE Communications

05/03/2015 01:54

(Adds breakdown of HKBN share sale, underwriters) 
    HONG KONG, March 5 (Reuters) - Private equity firm CVC 
Capital Partners  CVC.UL , a unit of Carlyle Group LP  CG.O  and 
Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC  GIC.UL  raised a combined 
$710 million after Hong Kong's second-largest broadband Internet 
provider, HKBN Ltd  1310.HK , priced its IPO at the top of 
expectations, people familiar with the deal said on Thursday. 
    The IPO was priced at HK$9 per share, at the top of the HK$8 
to HK$9 marketing range, said the people, who couldn't be named 
because details of the sale of 645 million shares weren't yet 
public.  
    Two other investors raised about $40 million in the listing, 
from which HKBN - previously known as Hong Kong Broadband 
Network - itself received no funds. No new shares were offered 
in the sale, worth $750 million in total. 
    HKBN didn't immediately reply to a Reuters request for 
comment on the IPO pricing. CVC, Carlyle and GIC didn't respond 
to requests for comment on the deal. 
    CVC bought HKBN from Hong Kong Television Network Ltd in May 
2012 for about $628 million. HKBN offers high-speed Internet to 
homes and businesses and competes with HKT Trust  6823.HK  and 
I-Cable Communications Ltd.  1097.HK , among others. 
    The private equity firm three months later sold a $40 
million stake to Singapore's GIC and a $29 million stake to 
Carlyle's AlpInvest. 
    CVC raised $626 million from the IPO after slashing its HKBN 
stake to about 14 percent from 68 percent previously, while 
AlpInvest raised $72 million and GIC $11.5 million, based on the 
number of shares offered in the deal.  
    A group of HKBN employees sold shares for $32 million, while 
HKBN Chief Executive Officer William Yeung is getting $7.4 
million from the sale of part of his stake in the company. 
    Goldman Sachs  GS.N , JPMorgan  JPM.N  and UBS  UBSG.VX  
were hired as joint sponsors and joint global coordinators for 
the IPO, with CLSA and HSBC  HSBA.L  also acting as joint 
bookrunners. 
    The banks stand to jointly earn up to $18.8 million in 
commissions from the deal, equivalent to a 1 percent 
underwriting fee, a 1 percent incentive fee and 0.5 percent 
discretionary fee, according to the IPO prospectus. 
 
 (Reporting by Fiona Lau of IFR and Elzio Barreto; Editing by 
Kenneth Maxwell) 
 ((elzio.barreto@thomsonreuters.com;)(852)(2843-1608; Reuters 
Messaging: elzio.barreto.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: HKBN CVC CAP PARTNR/IPO