Aug 3 (Reuters) – Londian Wason New Energy Tech is targeting a valuation of up to $1.7 billion in its U.S. initial public offering, the copper foil maker said on Monday, in what could be the biggest listing of a Chinese company in New York this year.
The move will be a crucial test of investor appetite for Chinese IPOs in the U.S. at a time when Beijing is encouraging more domestic champions to list closer to home.
Chinese listings in New York have dried up over the past year as geopolitical tensions between the world’s two biggest economies escalated, while Beijing has also sharpened scrutiny around firms pursuing offshore IPOs.
The Shenzhen, China-based company is seeking up to $78.6 million by offering roughly 3.6 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) priced between $20 and $22 apiece.
Including the over-allotment option, the offering could raise up to $90.4 million.
Beijing approved Londian Wason’s planned New York IPO in December, one of few U.S. listing applications cleared by the China Securities Regulatory Commission over the past year.
The company, whose major backers include South Korea’s SK Group and Mirae Asset, sells electrolytic copper foil globally and is led by co-CEOs Guanran Wang and Guangling Zhou.
Harvest Global Capital Investments, Hithium Global and certain other investors have indicated interest in buying $50 million, $7 million and $30 million worth of ADSs, respectively, according to the IPO prospectus.
Londian Wason reported a net profit of 134.5 million Chinese yuan ($19.2 million) on revenue of 4.07 billion yuan in the three months ended March 31, compared with a net loss of 68.4 million yuan on revenue of 1.91 billion yuan a year earlier.
Cantor, Huatai Securities, CMB International, US Tiger Securities, Fortune Securities and VC Brokerage are the underwriters for the offering.
Londian Wason will list on the NYSE under the symbol “FOIL.”
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)
