Logistics firm ZTO Express plans US IPO

    LOGISTICS company ZTO Express is planning a U.S. initial public offering (IPO) that could be the biggest U.S. listing by a Chinese company since Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s US$25 billion IPO, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

    Shanghai-based ZTO Express could raise between US$1 billion and US$2 billion by later this year or early 2017, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The company’s potential listing could match the US$2 billion IPO of Alibaba’s rival, JD.com Inc., in May 2014, the newspaper said.

    Zhong An plans US$2b mainland IPO in 2016

    INTERNET insurer Zhong An Online Property and Casualty Insurance plans an up-to-US$2 billion initial public offering on the mainland in 2016, IFR reported Friday, citing people close to the deal.

    At US$2 billion, the deal would be the largest-ever technology-related listing on the mainland and the biggest IPO since brokerage Guotai Junan Securities Co. raised US$4.8 billion last June, Thomson Reuters data showed. Zhong An, China’s first online-only insurer, has invited banks to pitch for IPO roles, according to IFR. The firm was founded in 2013 by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. executive chairman Jack Ma, Tencent Holdings Ltd. chairman Pony Ma and Ping An Insurance Group Co. of China Ltd. chairman Ma Mingzhe.

    Visual China expands photo archive

    IMAGE licensing company Visual China Group plans to invest up to US$100 million in Getty Images as the Shenzhen-listed firm expands its footprint in the global picture library.

    The deal comes a month after Corbis Entertainment, the image licensing company owned by Microsoft Corp.’s co-founder Bill Gates, sold its picture library business to Visual China for an undisclosed sum. That gave Visual China exclusive distribution rights to the Corbis content it bought for all regions, except China.

    Coal miner defaults on convertible debt

    UP Energy Development Group Ltd., a Hong Kong-listed producer of coking coal with mines on the mainland, has defaulted on convertible bonds, becoming the latest firm in the industry to renege on obligations after prices of the fuel plunged.

    The company failed to repay an unspecified amount of convertible notes by a Thursday grace-period deadline after missing payment by the Jan. 18 maturity, according to a filing Friday.