世界最大豬肉生產商 萬洲國際在香港順利上市

WH Group enjoyed a solid first day of trading in Hong Kong, bringing an end to the on-off listing saga of the world’s biggest producer of pork.

萬洲國際(WH Group)在香港掛牌交易首日表現強勁，給世界最大豬肉生產商斷斷續續的上市故事畫上句號。

Shares in the Sino-US company rose as much as 10 per cent in early trading yesterday before finishing the day with a gain of 7.4 per cent.

昨日早盤，這家中美公司的股價曾上漲10%，當天收漲7.4%。

The Henan-based company is the product of last year’s $7bn takeover of Smithfield Foods by China’s Shuanghui International, the two largest players in their respective markets. WH Group also holds more than a third of Campofrio, the European meat producer.

總部位於中國河南的該公司是去年中國雙匯國際(Shuanghui International)以70億美元收購史密斯菲爾德食品公司(Smithfield Foods)的產物，之前兩者都是各自市場的最大企業。萬洲國際還持有歐洲肉類製品企業Campofrio逾三分之一的股權。

The road to becoming a listed company has been long and bumpy for WH Group. Having hired banks last November, the company first sought to list in April – just six months after the Smithfield deal received regulatory approval.

萬洲國際的上市之路漫長而又顛簸。該公司去年11月聘用銀行之後，最初尋求在今年4月上市——距離收購史密斯菲爾德食品公司案獲得監管批准僅僅6個月。

The initial goal was to raise more than $4bn, with private equity shareholders seeking to offload additional stock that, at one point, took the potential deal size to $6.2bn.

萬洲國際最初目標是籌資超過40億美元，同時私人股本股東尋求出手更多股票，一度令潛在籌資金額高達62億美元。

However, investors rejected what they saw as an excessive valuation, and expressed concern over the swift drive towards an initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter at the time. WH Group also drew criticism after a share-based bonus payment to two executives worth almost $600m pushed the company into a loss for 2013.

但知情人士當時表示，投資者拒絕接受他們認爲過高的估值，並對該公司迅速謀求首次公開發行(IPO)表示擔憂。萬洲國際也遭到了批評，因爲其向兩位高管支付近6億美元股票獎金，導致公司2013年發生虧損。

The company responded by slashing the size of its IPO to less than $2bn and delaying the float by a week, but maintained its share price range.

萬洲國際的對策是將IPO規模砍掉一半、降至不到20億美元，並將上市時間推後一週，但保持發行價範圍不變。

That too failed to win over investors, forcing an embarrassing last-minute decision to pull the deal completely. Many believed WH Group would need to wait months before it could try again.

此舉未能讓投資者滿意，被迫令人尷尬地在最後時刻宣佈暫停上市。許多人認爲，萬洲國際需要等幾個月纔會再次發起上市努力。

However, after cutting the number of banks working on the deal from a record 29 to just two – Morgan Stanley and Bank of China International – the company was able to revive the float and raised over $2bn from a quick, low-profile deal last week.

然而，萬洲國際把辦理上市的銀行數量從創紀錄的29家砍到摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)和中銀國際(Bank of China International)兩家之後，上週得以重啓上市努力，通過迅速、低調的交易籌資逾20億美元。

WH Group sold shares at a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.5 times, down from its original target in April of 15-21 times. First-quarter earnings, which were included in listing documents for the rebooted deal, showed a notable rise in profits, which also helped to lower the p/e ratio.

萬洲國際昨日發行價的市盈率爲11.5倍，低於4月15至21倍的初始目標。重啓上市努力時提交的上市文件顯示，第一季度利潤顯著上升，這也幫助降低了市盈率。

The cash raised will be used to pay down some of the roughly $4bn in debt taken on to finance the Smithfield takeover.

IPO籌得的現金將用於償還融資收購史密斯菲爾德食品公司所欠約40億美元債務的一部分。