Sinochem International denies merger report

    SINOCHEM International Corp., a unit of Sinochem Group, said yesterday it has received no information regarding a proposed merger of its parent company with rival ChemChina.

    The two State-owned chemical companies are in discussions about a possible merger to create a chemicals, fertilizer and oil giant with almost US$100 billion in annual revenue, Bloomberg and Reuters reported Friday. “Until now, this company’s controlling company Sinochem Group and controlling shareholder Sinochem Group nor this firm have received any written or oral information from any relevant government department about this rumor,” said Sinochem International in a statement.

    ICBC plans to sell US dollar-denominated bonds

    INDUSTRIAL & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC), the nation’s largest lender by assets, is planning to sell U.S. dollar-denominated bonds in two tranches via its New York branch.

    The lender is marketing five-year dollar bonds to yield around 1.5 percentage points above comparable U.S. Treasuries. It is also marketing 10-year dollar bonds to yield around 1.7 percentage points above comparable Treasuries. The planned senior unsecured bonds are expected to be rated A1 by Moody’s Investors Service and A by S&P Global Ratings.

    Consortium to fund Tencent’s Supercell buy

    TENCENT Holdings Ltd. said a consortium formed to buy game developer Supercell has raised US$850 million by selling new shares to investors including Chinese State-owned investment firms AVIC Capital and CITIC Capital.

    Tencent, China’s biggest gaming group, agreed in June to buy the “Clash of the Clans” mobile game maker from Japan’s Softbank Group Corp. for about US$8.6 billion but had flagged it would form a consortium with co-investors. After the share sale, co-investors will own 50 percent of the consortium.

    Cofco Meat seeks up to US$333m via listing

    COFCO Meat Holdings Ltd., the Chinese pork producer partly owned by KKR & Co., is seeking to raise as much as US$333 million in a Hong Kong initial public offering.

    The state-backed company is offering 975.6 million shares at HK$2 (26 U.S. cents) to HK$2.65 apiece, according to terms for the deal seen yesterday. Haier Group Corp. agreed to buy US$57.4 million in stock as the biggest cornerstone investor in the offering.