China Securities Regulatory Commission has approved an IPO application from Guangzhou Port, with the port expected to go public this year.
Guangzhou Port applied for the IPO in December 2014, however, the central government has been slowing down approvals on new IPO applications in the past couple of years to stabilize the stock market.
Guangzhou Port will use the funds from the IPO to further optimize port infrastructure and promote the restructuring of port assets in the Pearl River Delta region.
According to an IPO application file of Guangzhou Port, China Cosco Shipping Corporation and Shanghai Port Zhonghai Container Terminal will acquire 3.87% and 3.89% stakes in the company respectively.
Guangzhou Port completed a container throughput of 18.85m teu in 2016, ranked fourth amongst China’s domestic ports following Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Ningbo-Zhoushan.
Privatisation of port authorities, either through IPO’s or concessions, will exponentially increase, as ports’ expansion and modernisation needs far outstrips governments’ ability to fund them.