Evergrande Unit Poised to Price Hong Kong IPO at HK$8.80

(Bloomberg) -- China Evergrande Group’s property management arm has raised about HK$14.3 billion ($1.84 billion) after pricing shares in its Hong Kong initial public offering at HK$8.80 each, according to people familiar with the matter.

Evergrande Property Services Group Ltd. sold 1.62 billion shares priced below the mid-point of a marketed range, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. The price range was set at HK$8.50 to HK$9.75 apiece on Sunday.

The shares are comprised of 50% new stock as well as 50% existing shares, meaning Evergrande will receive half of the proceeds from offering its holdings of the unit.

A representative for Evergrande didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The cash raised will help debt-laden Evergrande pare back a $120 billion debt pile under a more stringent oversight of developers’ fundraising activities by Chinese regulators. The nation’s housing watchdog and central bank have asked some of the biggest developers including Evergrande to report their financing, debt and business data on the 15th of every month, Bloomberg News has reported.

The offering includes a potential additional over-allotment option, known as a greenshoe, of 243.2 million shares. If the greenshoe is fully exercised to meet demand at HK$8.80 per share, proceeds could rise to HK$16.4 billion.

The IPO is part of a trend of China’s developers spinning off management units in Hong Kong at a record pace. About $4.69 billion has been raised through property management IPOs this year, overtaking 2019’s record $3.26 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Huatai International Ltd., UBS Group AG, ABC International, CCB International, Citic Securities Co. and Haitong International are joint sponsors of the offering.

Shares of Evergrande Property Services are set to begin trading Dec. 2.

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With assistance from Bloomberg