Wilmars China Unit Gets Approval For Shenzhen Stock Exchange IPO

Singapore agribusiness Wilmar International on Wednesday said its China business, Yihai Kerry Arawana, has received final registration approval for its initial public offering.

The listing of YKA on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange ChiNext Board is expected to take place by mid-October, the company said in a statement. YKA hopes to fund some 13.9 billion yuan ($2 billion) of investment projects it has identified from the proceeds of the listing, a Wilmar spokeswoman said.

A listing of that size would make it the biggest on the startup board to date, according to capital markets news service IFR.

Wilmar in its statement said that strategic investors, which mainly include state-owned funds, sovereign wealth funds, and insurance companies, have been identified to subscribe for about 30% of the IPO shares.

Wilmar previously shelved plans for a roughly $3 billion listing of its Chinese unit in Hong Kong in 2009.

Reuters