Excellence delays HK IPO plans

HONG KONG: Excellence Real Estate Group Ltd, the largest property developer in Shenzhen's Central Business District, has delayed a Hong Kong initial public offering that could have raised as much as $1 billion.

Excellence decided not to proceed under the original timetable "in view of the current market conditions for initial public offerings and with the investors' best interests in mind", it said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. It was scheduled to price the share sale yesterday.

Investor fatigue has formed over Hong Kong IPOs of Chinese property companies after 25 of them raised money in such sales since the beginning 2003, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. This month alone, five Chinese property companies, including Excellence and Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd, hit the road to market their initial share sales.