China Minzhong's S$237mln IPO closes with strong investor response

Company was able to attract over 102mln shares amounting to approximately S$123mln.

China Minzhong Food Corporation Limited, a leading integrated vegetables processor based in Fujian Province in the People’s Republic of China and the first integrated vegetables processor to list on the Main Board of the SGX-ST, announced that it has successfully completed an initial public offering of 197,344,000 shares at S$1.20 each and has received excellent market response from investors.

At the close of the public offer on 13 April 2010 at 12:00 p.m., 3,859 valid applications were received for the 9,867,000 shares under the Public Offer. In total, these applicants applied for an aggregate of 102,427,000 shares, with application monies received amounting to approximately S$123 million.

The Placement tranche has also drawn strong interest from institutional investors with participation from global international funds. The IPO also attracted Prudential Asset Management (Singapore) and Fidelity International as cornerstone investors.

The gross proceeds raised from the Offering are estimated to be S$237 million. If the Over-allotment Option is fully exercised by J.P. Morgan, the Offering will raise gross proceeds of approximately S$272 million.

J. P. Morgan (S.E.A.) Limited and Kim Eng Corporate Finance Pte. Ltd. are the Joint Financial Advisers for the Group’s proposed listing on the SGX-ST; J.P. Morgan (S.E.A.) Limited is the Sole Global Coordinator, Sole Bookrunner, Joint Issue Manager, Joint Underwriter and Joint Lead Manager; Kim Eng Corporate Finance Pte. Ltd. is the Joint Issue Manager, Joint Underwriter, and Joint Lead Manager; Macquarie Capital (Singapore) Pte. Limited is the Joint Issue Manager; Macquarie Capital Securities (Singapore) Pte. Limited is the Joint Underwriter and Joint Lead Manager; and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited is the Co-Lead Manager and Co-Placement Agent.

The shares will be traded in Singapore dollars in board lots of 1,000 on the Main Board of Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (SGX-ST). Trading on a “ready” basis is expected to commence at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, 15 April 2010 subject to the SGX-ST being satisfied that all conditions necessary for the commencement of trading in the shares on a “ready” basis have been fulfilled.