By Prudence Ho
HONG KONG--Billionaire Cheng Yu-tung's New World Development Co.
(0017.HK) has delayed taking orders for a planned hotel trust
listing aimed at raising up to US$1 billion due to ongoing weakness
in stock markets, people with knowledge of the deal said
Friday.
The company, which declined to comment, will continue to monitor
market conditions and wait for the right timing to launch the hotel
trust offering, one of the people said.
The hotel trust, which will have three hotel assets comprising
the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, Renaissance Harbour View Hotel and Hyatt
Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui, was scheduled to start taking
orders from institutional investors Monday, other people familiar
with the situation said earlier.
New World's hotel trust will be structured as a stapled unit, in
which ordinary and preferred shares of the company are bundled
together so that investors get dividends from the cash flow of the
hotels, the people said earlier. This structure is popular among
investors seeking steady, long-term income.
HSBC Holdings PLC, Deutsche Bank AG, J.P. Morgan Chase &
Co., BOC International Holdings Ltd. and Standard Chartered
Securities (Hong Kong) Ltd. are handling the transaction.
Write to Prudence Ho at prudence.ho@wsj.com
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