Hong Kong-listed Global Sweeteners Holdings Ltd (大成糖業控股) said yesterday that the company was considering a secondary listing on Taiwan’s bourse by issuing Taiwan Depository Receipts (TDRs).
In a filing issued to the Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing, Global Sweeteners said that under the company’s preliminary plan, the issuance of TDRs would be backed by either new or existing shares.
“The company is studying the feasibility of the proposed offering and listing of Taiwan Depositary Receipts (TDR) representing the shares of the company … on the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation,” it said in the statement.
Global Sweeteners — which focuses mainly on producing and selling corn-based sweeteners, has production facilities in Jilin Province’s Changchun, Liaoning Province’s Jinzhou and Shanghai. It is one of the largest corn sweetener producers in China in terms of production volume and production capacity, with annual production capacity of 960,000 tonnes.
The Cayman Islands-registered company became the latest foreign firm to express interest in listing TDRs on the local bourse in recent months.
Last week, Guangdong-based decorative light maker Neo-Neon Holdings Ltd (真明麗控股) made public its plan to issue US$63 million in TDRs by the end of the year, its underwriter Fubon Securities Co (富邦證券) said.
Six foreign companies, including Hong Kong-based New Focus Auto Tech Holdings Ltd (新焦點汽車), are applying to issue TDRs in Taiwan, after two other firms operated by Taiwanese businessmen abroad — Want Want China Holdings Ltd (中國旺旺控股) and Ju Teng International Holdings Ltd (巨騰) — successfully traded TDRs on the Taiwan Stock Exchange during the first half of this year.
While Global Sweeteners said in the statement that its board approved the plan to trade shares in Taiwan, the company did not disclose the size or structure of the planned sale or an expected timetable.
It also said it had not yet applied to regulators in either Taiwan or Hong Kong for approval.
“The company will pay due attention to the market sentiment in deciding whether or not the proposed TDR issue shall be conducted to ensure that it will be undertaken in the best interests of the company and its shareholders as a whole,” it said in the statement.
Shares of Global Sweeteners yesterday ended 9.4 percent higher at HK$1.7 (US$0.22) in Hong Kong trading, compared with a 0.7 percent rise on the Hang Seng Index.
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