IN BRIEF (Page 13)

Sinohydro to start trading

Sinohydro Group Ltd's shares will start trading in Shanghai on Tuesday, according to a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The IPO will probably be the biggest in China this year.

The nation's largest builder of hydroelectric dams raised 13.5 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) by selling the shares at the bottom of a price range of 4.50 yuan to 4.80 yuan, surpassing the 9.5 billion yuan raised by Sinovel Wind Group Co in its IPO in January.

PepsiCo adding plants in China

PepsiCo Inc will set up a food factory and add beverage lines in Guangdong province, which houses the most plants of the company in China, said Timothy Minges, chairman of greater China operations, on the sidelines of the Canton Fair.

The company, which already has 30 plants in China, is also scheduled to open a food plant in Wuhan, Hubei province, a research and development center in Shanghai early next year and a beverage plant in Zhengzhou, Henan province at a later date.

The company has no plan to raise prices in China, given the highly competitive nature of the market, although higher oil and sugar prices are pressuring the beverage industry, Minges said.

HNA pays 24% less for hotels

NH Hoteles SA, Spain's largest business hotel chain, said China's HNA Group Co Ltd will pay 24 percent less than previously agreed to take a 20 percent stake.

Hainan-based HNA will pay 5.35 euros ($7.41) a share for 61.7 million new NH Hoteles shares compared with 7 euros a share agreed in May, NH said in a regulatory filing on Monday.

The deal will raise 329.85 million euros for NH compared with 431.6 million euros under the terms of the previous agreement.

Making progress on China ETFs

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd's Chief Executive Officer Charles Li said work on China exchange-traded funds to invest in Hong Kong is "progressing well".

Li told said on Monday he didn't have a timetable but "hoped" a first fund would be started this year.

Sany seeks delay for HK float

China's Sany Heavy Industry Co Ltd said on Monday that it would seek shareholder approval to extend a deadline for its share float in Hong Kong.

Sany, China's largest construction machinery maker, in September postponed a maximum $3.3 billion Hong Kong share offering due to tumbling global markets.

Gold output up 6% in August

China's gold output rose 6 percent month-on-month to 31.89 metric tons in August, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on its website on Monday.

Total output for the first eight months rose 3.87 percent to 226.39 metric tons, the ministry said.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 10/18/2011 page13)