China’s Chinalco Mining Corporation said Thursday it hopes to raise up to $435 million in a Hong Kong initial public offering this month, the city’s first major IPO of the year.
Chinalco, a unit of state-owned Aluminum Corporation of China, will sell 1.76 billion shares at a range of HK$1.52 ($0.20) to HK$1.91, and will list on the Hong Kong stock exchange on January 31.
The group focuses on non-ferrous and non-aluminum mineral resources overseas and is currently concentrating on copper mining, said its chairman Xiong Weiping, adding that China is the world’s largest copper consumer.
“China will increasingly rely on imports to fulfil the gap in copper supply,” Xiong told a press conference.
Chinalco Mining controls the Toromocho Project in central Peru, one of the largest pre-production copper projects in the world. It is expected to start production during the fourth quarter of this year.
The company said in a statement it has secured five so-called cornerstone investors, including Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Holdings, which have promised to invest a total of $240 million in its shares.
Cornerstone investors are given the option to buy large portions of stock in an IPO if they agree to hold the shares for a certain length of time.
Hong Kong was the world’s top IPO market from 2009 to 2011 but the business declined last year as Chinese companies became worried about slowing economic growth.
A December listing by Chinese insurer PICC was the last IPO in the Asian financial hub, raising over $1 billion.
China Mining Corporation to list in Hong Kong this month
