Lenovo's top shareholder Legend Holdings seeks $3bn Hong Kong floatation

Beijing-based Legend Holdings, PC-maker Lenovo Group's largest shareholder, is reportedly planning a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) that could raise up to $3bn (£2bn, €2.8bn) in July.

Legend Holdings, among China's oldest state-linked conglomerates, intends to table an application seeking listing approval to the Hong Kong bourse in the coming weeks, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Legend has tapped UBS and mainland investment bank China International Capital for its planned offering, the report added.

A Hong Kong floatation will afford Legend a presence on a bourse that boasts of a large foreign institutional base, an advantage as Legend's divisions and subsidiaries increasingly expand overseas.

Legend holds a 30.6% stake in Hong Kong-traded Lenovo. It also controls Chinese private-equity firm Hony Capital and has interests in Chinese real estate.

When complete, Legend's planned $3bn stock sale will overshadow the recent big listings in the Asia-Pacific region.

Earlier this month, Hong Kong broadband operator HKBN raised $750m in its IPO while Jasmine Broadband Internet Growth Infrastructure Fund raised $1.7bn in a Bangkok IPO in February.

Legend raked in revenues totaling 244bn yuan ($39bn) in 2013, with total assets hovering at 207bn yuan. The conglomerate employs 65,385 people, of which 1,865 work outside China, according to its website.

Founders

Legend was founded in 1984 by Liu Chuanzhi and 10 other researchers with $300,000 in funding from a government research think tank -- the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Chuanzhi, the conglomerate's chairman, and the think tank's investment arm are Legend's major shareholders.