Club Med owner launches IPO with eye to raise US$547 million

HONG KONG: The owner of French luxury holiday resort group Club Med yesterday launched an initial public offering in Hong Kong, hoping to raise more than half a billion dollars.

Fosun Tourism, a unit of the sprawling Fosun Group, is offering 214.2 shares for between HK$15.60 and HK$20.00, it said in a prospectus and hopes to price the deal by next Friday with a listing a week later. It hoped to raise up to US$548 million.

As well as the Club Med brand, which it bought for more than US$1 billion in 2015, Fosun owns the Atlantis Sanya, a high-end hotel complex in China’s popular holiday destination of Hainan island.

The IPO is the latest in Hong Kong, where US$33 billion has been raised this year from new listings, more than twice as much as last year, according to Bloomberg News.

However, a number have struggled to kick on after their debuts – including phone giant Xiaomi and China Tower – as global equity markets are hit by uncertainty caused by the ChinaUS trade war, as well as slowing economic growth globally and particularly in China.

Fosun Group is one of China’s ‘grey rhino’ companies – along with Wanda, HNA and Anbang – that have come under scrutiny from mainland authorities wanting to crack down on debt-fuelled foreign acquisitions.

The Shanghai-based conglomerate has interests in p ro p e r t y, finance, pharmaceuticals, steel and entertainment. — AFP