China XD Electric aims to raise $1.5 billion from Shanghai IPO

China XD Electric Co, the country's largest high-voltage electrical infrastructure equipment maker, plans to raise as much as Rmb10.27 billion $1.5 billion from a Shanghai initial public offering IPO to expand production.

XD Electric is selling 1.37 billion A-shares at a price between Rmb7.10 and Rmb7.90 apiece, which is equal to 30.7 to 34.2 times its 2008 net profit, the company said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday.

The valuation is relatively cheap compared with an average historical price-to-earnings ratio of 45 times set by many Shanghai listing hopefuls. XD Electric's domestic competitors, Shanghai Electric and Dongfang Electric, have seen their Shanghai-listed shares trade at an average PE ratio of 51.2...