THREE mainland companies are piling into Hong Kong’s struggling initial public offering (IPO) market, even after the city’s loss of the Alibaba Group float to New York and pork producer WH Group’s pulled multibillion-dollar offering.

    China CNR Corp., China’s second-largest trainmaker by sales after CSR Corp., plans to start gauging investors interest in its around US$1.5 billion Hong Kong initial public offering this week, sources familiar with the matter said, while GF Securities, one of China’s largest brokerage firms, is inviting bankers to pitch for a role to advise its Hong Kong IPO of up to US$1 billion, other sources said. Meanwhile, Meiya Power Co., a power unit of China’s biggest nuclear energy company, is planning a new attempt to list in the city next year, sources familiar with its plans said.

    Hong Kong, which was the world’s top IPO market from 2009-2011, has had a tough time trying to recover that title in recent years. China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba, which is due to file its IPO documents soon for a multibillion dollar U.S. listing, had until last year been veering toward an IPO in Hong Kong. Another big Hong Kong IPO disappeared when drugstore chain Watsons, which had planned to list in a US$6 billion deal, was instead partly sold to Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd.

    WH Group, which bought Smithfield Foods last year in the biggest-ever Chinese acquisition of a U.S. company, pulled its IPO, which was originally valued at up to US$5.3 billion, last week, souring sentiment toward new listings in the city even further.

    Despite the challenges, mainland companies continue to attempt Hong Kong listings, because they have few options for fundraising. The mainland stock market has been flagging, and the queue to get listed domestically is years long. Listing in Hong Kong, home to one of the world’s biggest stock exchanges by market value, also gives these companies international profile and access to the international investing community.

    CNR, which is already listed in Shanghai, got listing approval from Hong Kong’s stock exchange last month and plans to list in the city before the end of this month, the sources said. The bullet-train maker is aiming to raise funds as the country’s high-speed rail network prepares to expand. Brokerage GF Securities is likely to be a 2015 listing, as is Meiya Power.

    Bankers will meet with GF Securities’ management in the middle of the month to pitch for a role in the deal, which could be smaller if markets turn worse, the sources familiar with the matter said.

    Meiya Power, meanwhile, is working with Morgan Stanley on a new attempt at listing, sources said. (SD-Agencies)