Watson to raise up to $6b in June IPO

HONG KONG, Mar 18 (AFP): Asia's richest man Li Ka-shing is planning to raise up $6 billion through a dual listing of his flagship retail chain in Hong Kong and London, a report said Tuesday, in what would be the world's biggest initial public offering (IPO) since late 2012.
Li is aiming to sell shares in AS Watson-part of his vast Hutchison Whampoa conglomerate-by the end of June, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting a person familiar with the situation.
Li, 85, said in February that Watson will be listed in two places with one of them definitely being the Chinese financial hub. "No matter what, Watson will definitely list in two locations, with Hong Kong being one of them," the Journal reported Li as saying at the time.
Tuesday's report said HSBC, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America were involved with preparations for the IPOs, adding that it plans to submit a listing application to the Hong Kong stock exchange as early as this week.