China's Sunshine Insurance targets up to $950 mln in HK IPO

China's Sunshine Insurance Group on Wednesday launched a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) to raise up to $950 million in a deal that would be the second-largest new share sale in the city in 2022.

The company is selling 1.15 billion shares in a price range of HK$5.83 to HK$6.45, according to its listing documents lodged with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The final price of the shares is due to be set on Monday and the company is scheduled to begin trading on the Hong Kong exchange on Dec. 9.

For Hong Kong, 2022 has been the worst year for new share sales in a decade, with nearly $6 billion worth of IPOs so far this year, including Sunshine Insurance's deal. The city had seen $25.4 billion worth of IPOs at the same time in 2021.

The largest IPO in 2022 has been CALB's 33931 $1.3 billion issue in late-September.

In its prospectus, Sunshine Insurance said it had life, health, accident, property, and casualty insurance products under its brands. It had 416.3 billion yuan ($58.29 billion) in total investment assets as of June 30 this year.

The firm added it was the 12th-largest life insurance company and the 7th largest property and casualty insurer in mainland China, based on China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission data.

($1 = 7.1408 Chinese yuan)

($1 = 7.8075 Hong Kong dollars)