Guilin Sanjin Pharmaceutical Co., China's biggest producer of herbal lozenges, received bids from investors for 584 times the number of shares available in the electronic tranche of the country's first initial public offering this year.
The Guilin, southwestern China-based company offered 36.8 million shares to individuals and institutional investors through the so-called online offer, according to a filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange yesterday. Investors applied for 425.4 billion yuan ($62.3 billion) of shares, the official Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
Investors' appetite for new shares has revived after the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 63 percent this year, making it the world's fourth-best performing major benchmark. The index has advanced 3.7 percent since Sanjin announced its sale plans on June 19.
The company raised 910.8 million yuan, 44 percent more than it initially planned, after all of the 46 million shares offered were bought at 19.80 yuan, following the end of a nine-month halt on share sales in China.
Sanjin offered 9.2 million shares to institutional investors in a so-called offline subscription, which attracted bids for 165 times the stock available, the company said in a June 26 filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
China Merchants Securities Co. is underwriting the share sale.
