The Hong Kong-based company sold 195 million shares, a 25 percent stake, at HK$15.50, the top end of a HK$12.50 to HK$15.50 range, said the people, who declined to be identified before an official statement. The price values the company at $1.5 billion.

Investors may be less interested in Stella than in Belle International Holdings Ltd., China’s largest shoe retailer that raised US$1.3 billion in a Hong Kong initial public offering last month, because Stella mainly supplies international high-fashion and casual brands, which include Celine, Donna Karan New York, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Clarks, Rockport, ECCO and Deckers.

“The market is not very interested in industrial stocks because they’re facing the pressure of higher labor cost and lower profit margins,” said Kenny Tang, associate director at Hong Kong-based Tung Tai Securities Ltd.

“The higher margins are earned by the brand owners, not the manufacturers.”

Thirteen Hong Kong initial share sales of consumer-related companies ranging from restaurant operators and retailers to juice makers raised $3.6 billion this year — a quarter of total first-time share sale fundraising in the city — capitalizing on investors’ eagerness to benefit from China’s consumption boom.

Subscribe to The China Post and save.  Click hereSharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 800 characters max

Receive China Post promos

Respond to this email