New Century Shipbuilding plans IPO of up to $1.5 billion

New Century Shipbuilding, the largest private shipyard in China, is planning to list its shares in Singapore this year to raise up to $1.5 billion, Yuan Kaifei, the chairman, said Thursday. Yuan told reporters the firm would use the proceeds from the initial offering, estimated to be worth 5 billion to 10 billion yuan, or $724 million to $1.5 billion, to improve its engineering technology and expand production capacity.
New Century has chosen to list in Singapore because the city-state is a global maritime hub and the market has a deep understanding of the shipbuilding industry, he said.
Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs have been appointed as underwriters of the IPO, Yuan said on the sidelines of a conference in the eastern coastal province of Jiangsu.
The company, which is based in Jiangsu and was established in 1970, now has over 3,000 employees.

Source: Reuters