Train maker China CNR raises $1.2 bn in Hong Kong IPO

Chinese high-speed train maker China CNR Corp raised more than US$1 billion in an initial public offering in Hong Kong Friday, less than a month after a Chinese pork firm withdrew a planned blockbuster listing.

The state-owned locomotive manufacturer, which produces trains for the country's super-fast rail network, raised $1.2 billion selling 1.8 billion shares at HK$5.17 ($0.67) each, at the lower end of its indicative price range.

China CNR Corp's scheduled listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange on May 22 comes after pork producer WH Group cancelled a planned blockbuster listing in Hong Kong at the end of April, blaming weak market conditions.

Earlier in April, the pork firm said it hoped to raise up to $5.3 billion, which would have been the biggest globally in a year and the city's largest since 2010.

However, it later slashed the offering by two-thirds to $1.88 billion, blaming concerns over the strength of the stock market.

China's high-speed rail network was only established in 2007 but has fast become the world's largest.

The state-run China Daily newspaper said the high-speed rail network was set to reach 50,000 kilometres by 2020, with four main lines running north and south and another four east and west.

However, China's high-speed rail network has also been plagued by graft and safety scandals, including a collision in July 2011 that killed 40 people.

CNR, which listed in Shanghai in 2009, produces the major type of train running on the 2,298-kilometre (1,425-mile) Beijing-Guangzhou route, the world's longest high-speed rail route that opened in 2012.

-- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this report --