http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-28...n-ipo.html
China Grand Automotive Services Co. (CGAGPZ), the Chinese car dealer backed by TPG Capital, plans to seek at least $500 million in an initial public offering in Hong Kong, said two people with knowledge of the matter.
China Grand Auto, based in Shanghai, may start the share sale early next year, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. China International Capital Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are working on the offering, the people said.
The IPO would be Hong Kong’s biggest for a car dealership since at least December 2010, when China ZhengTong Auto Services Holdings Ltd. (1728) raised $514 million, data compiled by Bloomberg show. China ZhengTong has fallen 39 percent from its IPO price.
Company officials weren’t available to respond to a phone inquiry at China Grand Auto’s head office in Shanghai. China Grand Auto had planned to seek about $1 billion in a Hong Kong IPO, people with knowledge of the matter said in April 2010.
China Grand Auto posted a profit of 1.5 billion yuan ($245 million) on sales of 73 billion yuan last year, according to the company’s website. It aims to overtake AutoNation Inc. (AN) as the world’s biggest car dealer this year, China Grand Auto says on its website.
AutoNation had sales of $15.7 billion in 2012, equivalent to 96 billion yuan at today’s exchange rate, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The company trades at 16.5 times trailing 12-month earnings, according to the data.