* Construction equipment firm interested in TSE
listing-source
* Sany has not yet chosen underwriters, nothing
concrete-source
* TSE has 11 foreign firms listed; down from peak of 127 in
1991
(Updates with own sourcing, adds Sany PR’s comments)
By Nathan Layne and Elzio Barreto
TOKYO/HONG KONG, March 13 (Reuters) – China’s Sany
Heavy Industry Co Ltd has shown interest in a
possible listing in Tokyo, a source in the financial industry
with knowledge of the matter said, in a move that could help the
construction equipment maker make inroads in the Japan market.
Talk of a potential listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
comes as Sany revives plans to go public in Hong Kong on the
back of a resurgent stock market. Sany had originally planned to
raise as much as $3.3 billion in a Hong Kong offering in
September before market turmoil prompted it to shelve the deal.
The source described Sany’s interest in a Tokyo offering as
preliminary, noting that the company had not chosen
underwriters. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because
nothing about the possible deal has been made public.
An executive in Sany’s public relations department said that
China’s largest construction equipment maker has no plans to
list in Tokyo.
“This is not the case, but if we do (plan to list) we will
definitely make an announcement,” said the executive, who
declined to give his name.
The Tokyo bourse as a policy does not comment on individual
firms.
Sany shares were flat in Shanghai trading by noon on
Tuesday.
REVERSING A SLIDE
Luring Sany would breathe some life into Tokyo’s efforts to
reverse the slide in the number of foreign firms trading on the
exchange. Currently there are only 11 non-Japanese companies
listed, down from a peak of 127 two decades ago.
Sany is controlled by China’s richest man, Liang Wengen. It
ranks as China’s largest construction equipment maker and
seventh in the world, and is often referred to as the Chinese
version of Caterpillar, the U.S.-based industry leader.
News of the possible listing was first reported by the
Yomiuri newspaper, which said Sany’s motive was to raise its
profile in Japan to help it build out its business in the
world’s third-largest economy, where Komatsu, the
world’s No.2 construction equipment maker, is a competitor.
Sany donated a truck-mounted concrete pump worth about $1
million and dispatched 3 engineers to Japan last year to help it
tackle the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant, according to
the company’s website.
In trying to attract foreign listings, the Tokyo bourse has
put much of its focus on big Asian countries like China and
South Korea. As part of those efforts its sales force has talked
with executives at Sany, another source with knowledge of the
matter said.
But the Tokyo bourse has not received any indication that
Sany intends to list on the Tokyo bourse, the source said.
“Companies will often talk about listing first in Hong Kong
and then maybe in Tokyo but that can just be lip-service and in
reality that may never happen,” the source said.
(Additional reporting by James Topham and Nobuhiro Kubo in
Tokyo and Jenny Su in Beijing; Editing by Joseph Radford and
Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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