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29-10-2010, 10:36 PM
(This post was last modified: 23-10-2013, 02:30 PM by CityFarmer.)
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Anyone bought into this counter?
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) , AIA Group Ltd. surged 17% in its debut Friday, overcoming broad weakness in the Hong Kong stock market, as investors cheered the pan-Asian life insurer's prospects in a region that, seen as largely untapped in terms of financial services.
AIA Group , formerly the majority-held Asian unit of American International Group Inc. , ended at 23.05 Hong Kong dollars ($2.97), up from its IPO price of HK$19.68. The gain stood in contrast with a weaker session for the Hang Seng Index , which ended 0.5% lower.
Brokers had expected the shares to perform well, though the first-day advance topped forecasts for the $17.8 billion initial public offering , Hong Kong's largest ever in terms of funds raised.
Earlier this year, U.K.-based Prudential PLC offered $35.5 billion for all of AIA but had to slash the size of the offer after its shareholders complained. The lowered bid was rejected by AIG amid concerns that Prudential's shareholders would vote down the deal even at the revised price.
I think the fact that Prudential was trying to buy it underscored to people that this was something worth having, said Andrew Sullivan, director of sales trading at OSK Securities in Hong Kong.
Indeed, investors said that they subscribed to Friday's offering partly because AIA offers exposure to 15 Asian markets, has strong brand recognition in the region and will be included in stock-market indexes.
They were also were upbeat on the prospects for insurance offerings such as mandatory retirement savings plans in the region's fast-growing markets, said Sullivan.
"A lot of people are looking at it like there's good growth here," he said.
The total funds raised from the IPO could balloon to as much as $20.5 billion if the issuers choose to exercise an option to make it bigger to meet demand.
First images of tsunami devastationRelief efforts have stepped up in Indonesia as aid reaches the worst hit areas of the Mentawai islands devastated by a tsunami. Video courtesy of Reuters.
New York-based AIG, which received billions under a U.S. government rescue in 2008, will retain an option to sell a further 1.05 billion shares, which could shrink its stake in AIA to 32.9%.
The size of the IPO was expanded by 1.17 billion shares from its original target of 5.86 billion shares, amid strong interest from investors.
AIG was forced to sell a majority stake in its Asian unit as part of efforts to restructure its business and pay back more than $120 billion owed to the U.S. government.
The IPO price valued the entire company at $30.6 billion, or about 1.2 times its estimated embedded value of $25.8 billion next year, according to reports which cited Goldman Sachs' calculations.
Unlike its competitors which rely on joint ventures and local partnerships, AIA owns most of it underlying branches and subsidiaries.
"It has a scale and scope in the Asia Pacific region that its competitors may find difficult to replicate," wrote analysts at Hong Kong brokerage Core Pacific-Yamaichi, in a note ahead of the debut.
The broker said AIA's solvency ratio had risen to 312% as of May, up from 188% in November 2007.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. which raised $16 billion from the Hong Kong portion of a dual Shanghai-Hong Kong share listing in 2006, held the previous record as the city's biggest IPO in terms of funds raised.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/aia-gro...2010-10-28
Anyone bought into this counter?
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) , AIA Group Ltd. surged 17% in its debut Friday, overcoming broad weakness in the Hong Kong stock market, as investors cheered the pan-Asian life insurer's prospects in a region that, seen as largely untapped in terms of financial services.
AIA Group , formerly the majority-held Asian unit of American International Group Inc. , ended at 23.05 Hong Kong dollars ($2.97), up from its IPO price of HK$19.68. The gain stood in contrast with a weaker session for the Hang Seng Index , which ended 0.5% lower.
Brokers had expected the shares to perform well, though the first-day advance topped forecasts for the $17.8 billion initial public offering , Hong Kong's largest ever in terms of funds raised.
Earlier this year, U.K.-based Prudential PLC offered $35.5 billion for all of AIA but had to slash the size of the offer after its shareholders complained. The lowered bid was rejected by AIG amid concerns that Prudential's shareholders would vote down the deal even at the revised price.
I think the fact that Prudential was trying to buy it underscored to people that this was something worth having, said Andrew Sullivan, director of sales trading at OSK Securities in Hong Kong.
Indeed, investors said that they subscribed to Friday's offering partly because AIA offers exposure to 15 Asian markets, has strong brand recognition in the region and will be included in stock-market indexes.
They were also were upbeat on the prospects for insurance offerings such as mandatory retirement savings plans in the region's fast-growing markets, said Sullivan.
"A lot of people are looking at it like there's good growth here," he said.
The total funds raised from the IPO could balloon to as much as $20.5 billion if the issuers choose to exercise an option to make it bigger to meet demand.
First images of tsunami devastationRelief efforts have stepped up in Indonesia as aid reaches the worst hit areas of the Mentawai islands devastated by a tsunami. Video courtesy of Reuters.
New York-based AIG, which received billions under a U.S. government rescue in 2008, will retain an option to sell a further 1.05 billion shares, which could shrink its stake in AIA to 32.9%.
The size of the IPO was expanded by 1.17 billion shares from its original target of 5.86 billion shares, amid strong interest from investors.
AIG was forced to sell a majority stake in its Asian unit as part of efforts to restructure its business and pay back more than $120 billion owed to the U.S. government.
The IPO price valued the entire company at $30.6 billion, or about 1.2 times its estimated embedded value of $25.8 billion next year, according to reports which cited Goldman Sachs' calculations.
Unlike its competitors which rely on joint ventures and local partnerships, AIA owns most of it underlying branches and subsidiaries.
"It has a scale and scope in the Asia Pacific region that its competitors may find difficult to replicate," wrote analysts at Hong Kong brokerage Core Pacific-Yamaichi, in a note ahead of the debut.
The broker said AIA's solvency ratio had risen to 312% as of May, up from 188% in November 2007.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. which raised $16 billion from the Hong Kong portion of a dual Shanghai-Hong Kong share listing in 2006, held the previous record as the city's biggest IPO in terms of funds raised.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/aia-gro...2010-10-28
