By Scott Murdoch and Donny Kwok
SYDNEY (Reuters) -China’s top soy sauce maker Foshan Haitian rose as much as 4.7% on Thursday on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after the company raised $1.3 billion in a listing.
Foshan Haitian sold 279 million shares at HK$36.30 ($4.62) each, the top of the price range flagged to investors ahead of the book build last week.
The shares climbed to as much as HK$38 early on Thursday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.36%.
It is the most actively traded stock by turnover on the Hong Kong exchange on Thursday.
Foshan Haitian increased the number of shares on sale during the book build due to strong demand from investors.
The retail tranche of the deal was oversubscribed nearly 920 times while the institutional portion was 23 times covered, according to Foshan Haitian’s regulatory filings.
Foshan Haitian said it plans to use the proceeds from the listing to make new products and strengthen its overseas supply chain, among other initiatives.
The company said it has maintained its position as China’s largest condiment producer by volume for 27 consecutive years, with a market share twice that of its nearest competitor.
Its soy sauce and oyster sauce products hold the top spot in market share, according to its prospectus.
($1 = 7.8497 Hong Kong dollars)
(Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney and Donny Kwok in Hong Kong; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
