Orient Sec to launch $1.15bln offer

HONG KONG: China´s Orient Securities Co plans to launch an up to $1.15 billion share offering in Hong Kong on Monday, IFR reported, in what is expected to be the first of several mainland brokerages lining up to raise funds in the city this year.

The deal comes almost a year after a stock market collapse in China, which unravelled after a surge that was fuelled partly by abundant funds at local brokers which made a flurry of capital raisings in Hong Kong earlier in 2015.Brokerages, including Huatai Securities Co Ltd, Haitong Securities and GF Securities, raised $22.4 billion in Hong Kong last year and most of them mentioned margin finance, or lending for stock purchases, as a key area for expansion and where they would invest a portion of the proceeds.