Air China in $1bn London listing

China's national airline is to make its overseas stock market debut with a dual listing in London and Hong Kong, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) has said.

Air China plans to raise $1bn (£514m) from the flotation. Share trading will begin on 15 December, the LSE said. For China's aviation authorities, the listing is part of the modernisation of its airline sector to cope with soaring demand for air travel. No further details of the share price or number of shares were given.

The LSE has been working hard to woo Chinese companies to choose London, rather than New York for their listings. It opened an Asia-Pacific office in Hong Kong last month. "We are delighted that Air China has chosen London for its listing outside China," said LSE chief executive Clara Furse. "The London Stock Exchange offers ambitious Chinese companies access to the world's most international equity market combined with high regulatory and corporate governance standards," she said. A spokesman for the LSE said: "We've been engaged with them (Air China) for about 18 months, two years now." As part of its pitch to bring listings to London, the LSE is thought to be highlighting the extra costs and red-tape imposed by new US laws passed since the Enron scandal, whilst stressing London's strong regulatory environment.

Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder began a three-day visit to Beijing on Monday by signing a deal worth 1bn euros ($1.3bn; £690m) for Airbus to sell 23 new planes to Air China, the Deutsche Welle radio station reported. China's booming economy has created huge demand for air travel among middle-class Chinese, turning the country into a sales battleground between rival plane makers Airbus and Boeing. Air China's long-awaited flotation is part of a strategy to modernise a dozen state-owned carriers, which have been reorganised into three groups under Air China, China Southern and China Eastern. Merrill Lynch are sole bookrunners for Air China's flotation, which will take the form of a share placing with institutional investors in London, though retail investors may be able to buy Air China shares in Hong Kong. Air China's primary listing will be in Hong Kong, with a secondary listing in London. The shares will be denominated in Hong Kong dollars. However, investors may be wary of Chinese stocks. The collapse last week of China Aviation Oil, the Singapore-listed arm of a Chinese jet fuel trader, has cast the spotlight on corporate governance shortcomings at Chinese firms.
