Page 31 - Sphere No.13 (Dec 2004)

H utchison Telecommunications
International Limited
(Hutchison Telecom) listed
on the Hong Kong and New York stock
exchanges in mid-October. It was the
largest Asian spin-off IPO in 2004 year-
to-date, the largest IPO by a Hong
Kong issuer in 2004 year-to-date and
the first-ever Asian-focused emerging
markets telecom IPO.
The listing opened the door for
investors to gain exposure to
high-growth emerging mobile telecom-
munications markets, such as
those in India and Thailand, while
balancing the portfolio with
established and profitable telecoms
operations elsewhere.
Hutchison Telecom brings together
a stable of telecommunications
companies owned by Hutchison
Whampoa (HWL) that operate in eight
key markets: Hong Kong, Macau, India,
Israel, Thailand, Paraguay, Sri Lanka
and Ghana. Collectively, the businesses
currently have over 11 million
subscribers, assets of more than
US$5 billion and revenues in excess of
US$1.29 billion in 2003.
With Goldman Sachs as lead under-
writer, HWL offered 1.155 billion
shares representing 25.67% of
Hutchison Telecom’s share capital.
HWL remains the largest shareholder
with 70.1%.
The offering closed on October 6 and
trading started on October 14 on the
New York Stock Exchange (code HTX)
with American Depositor y Shares
(ADS) representing 15 ordinary shares.
The stock made its debut on the main
board of the Hong Kong Stock
Exchange on October 15 (code 2332).
The listing raised US$899 million with
the shares priced at HK$6.01 and the
ADS’s at US$11.67.
Despite challenging global equity
markets, the deal was comfortably over-
subscribed with strong demand from
US and international institutional
investors. The proceeds from the IPO
will effectively be repaid to HWL,
which has invested around US$2.7
billion into the Hutchison Telecom
SPHERE 29
THE NEW
FRONTIERNewly listed Hutchison Telecom is poised to capture valuable growth opportunities in emerging telecoms markets.
By Mark Caldwell