Chinese Broker Guotai Junan to Get Listed in China at $4.8 Bln

One of the largest Chinese brokerage companies on the mainland and in Hong Kong, Guotai Junan Securities, is set to get listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange for $4.8 bln. The listing may become one of the largest in China.

A big number of major firms have been choosing to get listed on more accessible stock exchanges in order to forego capital controls and attract foreign demand for their shares. The most recent example is the $25 billion listing of Alibaba on the New York Stock Exchange .

Guotai Junan Securities has been cleared by local regulators to tap 29.7 billion Chinese yuan ($4.8 billion) from local investors. The firm is the third largest brokerage in the country and is already listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The offering consists of 1.52 billion shares, representing 10% to 20% of its total capitalization. According to the official initial public offering (IPO) prospectus the funds will be used to boost the broker’s capital base and secure additional funds for acquisitions in the sector.

The underwriters of the IPO will be China Galaxy Securities, Hearing Securities and Ping An Securities.

Guotai Junan Securities will be the fourth large brokerage listing in China since the start of the year. The Chinese stock market has been booming in recent months and major indices more than doubled since last fall.

Recently, another Chinese broker, Huatai Securities, managed to raise $4.5 billion, which is the world’s second-largest IPO for 2015.