Investment

Mainland firm to list in Taiwan

By Weiyi Lim (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-27 15:51

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings may raise as much as $143 million

TAIPEI - The Taiwan Stock Exchange said a mainland-owned company will sell shares on the island for the first time

next month, paving the way for mainland stock listings and underscoring improving ties between the two economies. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings Ltd, the mainland's fourth-biggest shipbuilder whose shares are traded in Singapore, may raise as much as NT$4.56 billion ($143 million) from listing Taiwan depositary shares, according to its main underwriter SinoPac Securities Co.

"This is definitely a milestone for Taiwan," Stanley Chu, a spokesman for the Taiwan Stock Exchange, said by phone in Taipei. "Our next step is to get red chips to list in Taiwan. Hopefully that will happen by the end of the year." Red chips are mainland companies incorporated overseas and traded in Hong Kong.

Yangzijiang is the first mainland-majority owned company to list in Taiwan, the exchange said. Taiwan's stock index rose the most since 1991 on April 30 last year after the island allowed mainland investments for the first time since 1949.

The Taiex has declined 5.5 percent this year after rallying 78 percent last year.

Yangzijiang increased 1.3 percent as of 11:43 am in Singapore trading, extending a 26 percent surge this year, compared with a 1 percent gain for the Straits Times Index.

"Mainland companies listing in Taiwan makes it convenient for local investors who like mainland companies," said Alan Ho, who helps oversees NT$460 million for Union Securities Investment Trust Co.

"This also shows the closer relations both sides are having." Newyard Worldwide Holdings and Lido Point Investments Ltd are the top two investors in the company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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