Almost a year to the day, Standard Chartered Bank has re-launched its Hong Kong listing, with investor pre-marketing beginning yesterday Monday. At the outset it appears little has changed for the better since the bank last began pre-marketing the deal on September 14 2001.
Market sentiment has failed to improve in the interim period and the bank's share price opened in London yesterday at 675p compared to 700p at the same point in the launch cycle a year ago. Back in September 2001, bank officials initially said it made sense to canvass investor opinion in the hope equity markets would recover ahead of formal roadshows. The deal was then pulled after the post September...
