Hong Kong-listed Zhejiang Glass Co. Ltd. has announced that the International Finance Corp (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, and US private investment group Scion Capital have taken an aggr…
Hong Kong-listed Zhejiang Glass Co. Ltd. has announced that the International Finance Corp (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, and US private investment group Scion Capital have taken an aggregate 19.7% stake in the company through a subscription to 142.1 million new Zhejiang Glass shares at HKD 1.80 per share. It said the subscription shares represent about 24.56% of the company“s existing issued share capital. The subscription price represents a discount of about 2.17% to Zhejiang Glass“ closing price of HKD 1.84 per H-share on 23 June 2006. The entire subscription proceeds of about HKD 256 million will be used to repay Zhejiang“s existing outstanding short-term bank loans, company chairman Feng Guangcheng said in a statement. Feng said the company has taken out a USD 68 million loan from IFC, repayable over five years from 15 July 2008. He said the company has been using short-term debt to fund a significant part of its capital expenditure. “The company intends to reduce and refinance a significant part of its short-term debt totaling approximately USD 101 million during 2006 to 2008 by applying the entire subscription proceeds and the loan”, he said. Following the share subscription, IFC will hold a 14.94% stake in Zhejiang Glass, while Scion Capital and its units will hold a combined 4.78% interest.