SHANGHAI: Merchants Securities Co, one of China’s top 10 brokerages, secured a crucial regulatory review for an initial public offering that analysts said could raise up to five billion yuan (US$732mil) but which could be delayed by weak market conditions.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission said it would consider the IPO application on Monday, exerting further pressure on the country’s slumping stock market, where the benchmark tumbled to a 20-month low yesterday amid fears of new supplies of equity and ebbing earnings growth.