Kazakhmys reportedly will be first Kazakh company to list in Hong Kong
Kazakhmys, which has been rounding up financing to develop new ore deposits, plans a public offering of $500 million to $600 million in Hong Kong in the first half of the year, according to the report.
The listing will be the first follow-through on Kazakh officials' pledges last year that some of the country's top enterprises will float shares on the Hong Kong exchange. The names most often mentioned were Kazakhmys and the minerals conglomerate Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation.
A Hong Kong listing would really make sense for Kazakhmys, which is due to announce its 2010 earnings tomorrow, because China and Europe are its largest customers.
The Kazakh officials who have been touting Hong Kong listings have said that the reasons that Kazakhmys and other Kazakh companies should list there include:
-- Many investors in the West dumped shares of Kazakh companies listed on the London Stock Exchange when the global economic crisis began in the West in 2007, although they returned to the shares later.
-- China's purchases of Kazakhstan's oil, gas and minerals have been jumping, and Hong Kong is the gateway to China.
-- China has been investing heavily in Kazakhstan's petroleum and minerals sector and in the country's infrastructure, including refineries, pipelines, highways and rail lines.
-- The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has gone out of its way to pursue listings of petroleum and minerals companies.
-- A Hong Kong listing requires less red tape and can be done quicker than in New York, London or Tokyo, Kazinform refers to Central Asia Newswire.
To read the full version visit www.centralasianewswire.com .