Biz Scene: Market

PZH to list

Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group (PZH), the country's 15th-largest steel mill by output, plans to list on China's stock market in a deal worth more than $1 billion.

PZH Steel will merge with two other units of the group, Chongqing Titanium and Sichuan Changcheng Special Steel, and buy core assets worth up to 7.5 billion yuan from the group, PZH said in a statement yesterday.

The purchases will be paid for through a private placement of new PZH shares to Panzhihua Group and affiliates. The deal will leave Shenzhen-listed PZH Steel as the listed arm of the entire group.

Asset restructuring

Southwest Securities Co, a brokerage based in Chong-qing, plans to become the latest of the nation's securities firms to go public through a so-called backdoor listing to bolster capital.

The company will conduct an "asset restructuring" with publicly traded Chong-qing Changjiang River Water Transport Co, the operator of freight transportation said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Chong-qing Changjiang didn't give more details except that the plan has been "tentatively determined" and is being discussed with regulators.

(China Daily 11/06/2007 page15)