Two more companies with links to information technology and the internet are to list shares on Hong Kong’s fledgling Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) following IPOs. Asia Information Resources (Holdings) Ltd, an internet content provider for China and Hong Kong, will sell 120 million new shares at HK$1 to HK$1.25 apiece, giving the company a market value of HK$480m ($61.5m) to HK$600m ($76.9m), according to a statement from Tai Fook Securities, which is sponsoring the share sale. The share price was bumped up by about 20% due to demand from overseas investors, the statement said.
New World Cyberbase Ltd paid HK$15m ($1.9m) in August for a 19% stake in Asia Information, which lost HK$1.5m last year and HK$2.8m the year before. The company plans to use proceeds from the sale to mount a promotional campaign in Hong Kong and Taiwan and to expand its e-commerce operation.
Yuxing InfoTech Holdings Ltd, which designs and markets video compact discs and educational software, plans to sell 100 million new shares at HK$4.20 each, giving it a market capitalization of HK$1.68bn ($215.4m) according to ICEA Securities. The offer price is equivalent to 13.6 times expected 1999 earnings of HK$107m ($13.7m).
Yuxing, which had a net income of HK$57m ($7.3m) in the first half of the year, plans to use the HK$420m ($53.8m) in planned proceeds from its sale for product development and marketing. The two companies will close their books for placement on Dec 3, with the sale to public investors starting December 7 to December 10. Yuxing will start trading on the GEM on December 15, followed by Asia Information on December 16.
