CHINA Merchants Securities Co., the mainland’s sixth-largest brokerage by assets, will seek a multibillion-dollar initial share sale in Hong Kong in the coming weeks, Dow Jones quoted sources as saying yesterday.

    The Shenzhen-based brokerage plans to submit an application to Hong Kong’s stock exchange seeking approval for the initial public offering (IPO), the sources said.

    Shanghai-listed Merchants Securities plans to list in Hong Kong in the fourth quarter. It originally planned to raise about US$4 billion in June.

    But with the mainland stock market flailing and the government tamping down on margin financing, a new fundraising target could be much lower, the sources said.

    Merchants Securities disclosed plans to go public in Hong Kong in May in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It said it planned to issue up to 1.2 billion shares but gave no additional details.

    The brokerage last year posted a net profit of 3.9 billion yuan (US$628.3 million), up 73 percent from a year earlier, buoyed by gains in commission income and wealth management.

    (SD-Agencies)