London-listed insurer Prudential has been given the green light by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to list on the city’s bourse, a report said Thursday.
The bourse’s listing committee vetted Prudential’s plans in a special meeting Wednesday, a day ahead of its regular Thursday session, a person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires.
Prudential will be listed by way of introduction, which means adding another trading venue without raising additional funds, as no new shares will be issued, the report said. The Hong Kong Economic Times said in a report Thursday that the listing will take place early May, citing sources close to the deal.
The insurer said in March that it had accelerated its listing plan in order to have the IPO effective before launching a 20-billion-dollar rights issue. Money from the issue will be used to partly fund its agreed takeover of AIA, the Asian arm of troubled US insurer American International Group (AIG).
Prudential has agreed to buy AIA for 35.5 billion US dollars in a deal that will make it the insurance sector’s biggest-ever takeover. The buyout would transform Prudential into the world’s top non-Chinese insurer by market capitalisation, ahead of major competitors Allianz and AXA. Prudential plans to keep a primary listing of its shares in London.
Hong Kong, April 22, 2010 (AFP)
