A MAINLAND port services firm has completed a rare fixed-price initial public offering (IPO) of shares in Hong Kong in an accelerated, pragmatic sale skirting the market jitters that derailed more ambitious regional listings in the last few weeks.

    Qingdao Port International Co. and its controlling shareholder raised a combined HK$2.92 billion (US$377 million) in the sale, sources with direct knowledge of the deal said Friday.

    Priced at HK$3.76 each, the share sale raises funds to expand facilities at Qingdao port in eastern China, the world’s seventh busiest by shipping volume.

    The firm and its bankers chose the fixed-price strategy as it “made it more efficient, simpler” and faster to execute, one of the sources said. The sources said they expect fixed-price deals to remain the exception as markets gradually stabilize.

    Weak demand and unfavorable market conditions saw mainland pork producer WH Group Ltd. pull a Hong Kong IPO late in April that once targeted up to US$5.3 billion in proceeds, while Lotte Shopping Co. postponed an up to US$1 billion Singapore real estate investment trust listing three weeks ago.

    “It’s still a tough market. The problem is, apart from anything else, investors haven’t made a lot of money in recent IPOs, so not a huge incentive for people to be too aggressive,” a separate source said. “You have to be very careful and very focused.”

    The Qingdao deal closed after just three and a half days of bookbuilding, the sources said, rather than the typical two weeks for most IPOs, when management and underwriters travel around the world to gauge demand at different price levels for the stock. (SD-Agencies)