China Railway Construction Corporation Approved for IPO

China Railway Construction Corporation approved for IPO

BEIJING, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) — China’s securities regulator formally okayed on Thursday the initial public offering (IPO) of China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), one of the nation’slargest road and rail project contractors.

The company received a formal approval from China Securities Regulatory Commission for its plan to issue 2.8 billion shares in Shanghai and the prospectus will be released on Friday, said an official with the commission.

The official, who required anonymity, didn’t disclose the specific date of listing at the Shanghai bourse.

The CRCC was preparing to issue another 1.8 to 2.07 billion shares in Hong Kong and hoped the total capital raised in Shanghaiand Hong Kong could reach 4 billion U.S. dollars, according to thecompany’s prospectus submitted for approval last month.

It said the capital raised would be used to procure construction facilities, expand the manufacturing capacity of mechanical equipment, invest in properties and railways.

Citic Securities would lead the underwriting, said the prospectus.

The CRCC established its name by building the Qinghai-Tibet railroad, Shanghai maglev rail line and the Beijing-Kowloon railway. It also took the largest share in the bidding for civil engineering of the long-delayed express railway linking Beijing and Shanghai.

The company’s total assets amounted to 155 billion yuan by the end of November 2007, with net profit reaching 2.8 billion yuan.

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