China.com, the Nasdaq-listed Chinese-language internet content provider which has proved very popular with US investors, plans to spin off its wholly-owned Hongkong.com portal through a listing on the territory’s new Growth Enterprise Market (GEM). It is also considering injecting its joint venture with America Online, AOL Hong Kong Internet, which was launched a few weeks ago, into Hongkong.com. AOL has a 10% stake in China.com.
A company official said China.com has appointed Lehman Brothers and BNP Prime Peregrine financial advisers for the spin-off deal, and is now preparing its GEM listing application for submission later this month. The listing is expected as early as the first quarter of next year.
China.com chief operating officer Peter Hamilton said Hongkong.com had 2.5 million page views by the end of last month, compared with about one million page views in June when the company began to report page-view figures.
