Fears that equity investors were on a buyer's strike diminished somewhat yesterday May 19 when China Telecom successfully pulled off the largest placement of the year, raising $1.725 billion. The fixed line telco placed 5.85 billion shares at HK$2.30 each - a 3.15% discount to the stock's HK$2.37 close Wednesday lunchtime when it was suspended.
The whole market could clearly understand why joint leads Morgan Stanley and UBS would choose to launch a deal on a day when share prices were suddenly spiking upwards and momentum briefly returned. But, many bankers were unable to comprehend why investors would buy into such a large deal given that underlying sentiment remains...
