Biz Scene: Grapevine

Investment in offering

Ping An Asset Management Co, a unit of Ping An Insurance (Group) Co, spent HK$1 billion in Value Partners Ltd's pending initial share sale, the Hong Kong Economic Times reported, without citing anyone.

This amounts to 9 percent of Value Partners, which is seeking to raise HK$3 billion by selling a 25 percent stake, the newspaper said yesterday.

Value Partners plans to list in Hong Kong in mid-November, with JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley arranging the sale, the newspaper said.

The company is the Hong Kong-based regional partner of New York's J.H. Whitney Investment Management LLC.

Aluminum shares

Shanxi Zhaofeng Aluminum Co, a unit of Yangquan Coal Industry Group Co, may sell shares for the first time overseas, the Shanghai Securities News reported, citing an unidentified company official.

Shanxi Zhaofeng, which uses electricity generated from parent Yangquan, can produce 120,000 metric tons of primary aluminum a year, the report said. It wants to boost that capacity to 500,000 tons a year.

(China Daily 10/24/2007 page15)