CLIVE Palmer's Resourcehouse is seeking to raise up to $US3.62 billion ($3.4bn) in an initial public offering ahead of its listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange on June 9, according to a term sheet seen by Dow Jones Newswires.
The company will sell 5.716 billion shares at an indicative price range of $HK4.48-$HK4.93 each, the term sheet said.
Resourcehouse, which will start bookbuilding for institutional investors today, will launch the Hong Kong retail offering on May 26.
The planned offering will be the miner's fourth attempt to list in Hong Kong after it postponed its IPO roadshows in March because of weak markets at the time, people familiar with the situation said previously.
Resourcehouse's IPO will also be among the biggest this year in Hong Kong, joining the up to $US11bn Hong Kong-London listing of Swiss commodities trader Glencore International.
Resourcehouse has locked in China Railway Group, a state-owned integrated construction group, as a cornerstone investor to buy about $US200 million worth of shares in the company, the term sheet said.
Resourcehouse will use the proceeds from the IPO to develop a thermal coal project in Central Queensland and a magnetite iron ore project in Western Australia, and for working capital and debt repayment.
BOC International is the sole sponsor and a bookrunner of the deal, while HSBC Holdings, UBS and Royal Bank of Scotland Group are the joint bookrunners, the term sheet said.
Resourcehouse had originally planned to list in November 2009. The company got as far as the pre-marketing stage, but then postponed roadshows as it prepared for an investment by Metallurgical Corp of China, people familiar with the situation said earlier.
During pre-marketing, a company and its bankers gauge investor interest in an IPO and come up with a price range for the deal. The roadshow is the official bookbuilding period when a final price is set.
Metallurgical Corp bought a 5 per cent stake in Resourcehouse in February 2010 for $US200m.
Metallurgical Corp said in an announcement to the Hong Kong stock exchange at the time that the Australian miner would conduct roadshows for its IPO in the first half of 2010.
However, stockmarkets fell during that period due to Greece's debt troubles, and a series of Hong Kong IPOs, including a $US3bn deal by Swire Properties, were pulled.
Resourcehouse in late February this year tried to revive the $US3bn IPO and started pre-marketing but poor market sentiment in March due to a powerful earthquake in Japan and instability in the Middle East forced the company once again put the roadshows on hold.
ARH Price at posting:
28.5¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
