China's Sunshine Insurance Group is planning to seek Hong Kong stock exchange approval for its initial public offering as soon as next week, which could raise about US$1 billion (HK$7.8 billion).
The Beijing-based company may start gauging investor demand once approval is obtained and seek a listing in November, according to people familiar with the matter.
Sunshine Insurance has won the approval of China's securities watchdog for its Hong Kong listing plans. It has been authorized to sell a maximum of 3.97 billion shares in the offering.
The company filed pre-listing documents with the HKEX in April.
Hong Kong's equity capital market remains muted as rising rates and surging volatility kept many issuers away.
Companies have raised about US$10.8 billion through IPOs in Hong Kong this year, down from above US$37.6 billion for the same period last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Founded in 2004, Sunshine Insurance operates businesses including life and health insurance, property and casualty insurance and asset management, according to its preliminary prospectus. The Life and P&C units had 2,895 branches in China as of December 31.
Huatai International, China International Capital (3908), UBS Group and CCB International are joint sponsors of the deal.
Firms have raised US$10.8 billion through IPOs this year. Sing Tao
