HONG KONG: HKBN Ltd., the Internet provider backed by CVC Capital Partners Ltd., received approval from the Hong Kong stock exchange for a $600 million initial public offering, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The company, based in Hong Kong, plans to start gauging investor demand as early as next week, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
HKBN is seeking a listing nearly three years after it was acquired by CVC for about HK$4.9 billion ($632 million). The company is the city’s second-largest provider of high-speed Internet services to residential customers, with a 34.2 percent market share at the end of August, according to a Dec. 19 pre-IPO filing.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and UBS Group AG are joint sponsors of the share sale, the filing shows. A Hong Kong-based external spokesman for HKBN declined to comment.
CVC acquired the company in March 2012 from Hong Kong Television Network Ltd. and sold a $40 million stake in HKBN to Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte in August of that year, the filing shows.
