CHINA Railway Construction Corp., one of the country’s biggest infrastructure builders, plans to seek as much as US$800 million in a spinoff of its tunneling machinery business, people with knowledge of the matter said.

China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Co., known as CRCHI, is working with advisers and plans to file a listing application with the Hong Kong stock exchange as early as this quarter, the people said. The company aims to start trading this year, said the people.

Hong Kong stocks entered a bull market this week, raising hopes that IPO volumes will recover after the slowest first quarter since 2013. First-time share sales in the city totaled US$2.6 billion in the first three months of the year, with the largest deal raising just US$328 million.

Details of the offering including the fundraising size and timeline could change, the people said. An external representative for CRCHI said she couldn’t immediately comment.

CRCHI, founded in 2007, makes equipment used in railway, mining and hydraulic engineering projects across China. Its products are also exported to about 30 countries including the United States and Canada, according to its website.

China Railway Construction said in June that it planned to list the business in Hong Kong after a restructuring, without providing further details. CRCHI’s net income rose 25 percent last year to 1.64 billion yuan (US$244 million), according to its parent’s exchange filings.

(SD-Agencies)