Hongqiao Group, a leading Chinese aluminium producer which planned to raise up to $2.2 billion in an accelerated Hong Kong IPO, scrapped the deal yesterday, citing weak market conditions and falling prices of the light metal in global markets.
The IPO looked challenging from the beginning. The company kicked off its offering just over a week before the Chinese New Year holidays which start on Thursday this week when market sentiment is routinely weak. And, indeed, during the one-week roadshow, major stock indices worldwide dropped and aluminium spot prices declined.
The cancellation of the deal, which was to have become the first sizable IPO in Hong Kong this year, is likely to...