Shares of Chinese energy major CNOOC Ltd. surged in their Shanghai debut Thursday, making it the latest high-profile state-owned company to tap mainland investors.
CNOOC shares opened at 12.96 yuan (US$2.02) against the offer price of CNY10.80. The shares then immediately rose to CNY15.55, taking increases to 44%, before an automatic halt was triggered.
The state-owned company, which is already listed on the Hong Kong exchange, had raised US$4.37 billion in the Shanghai listing. Exercising an overallotment option involving an additional 390 million shares would bring the total amount raised from the offering to US$5.07 billion.
CNOOC ‘s listing comes after its shares, along with other Chinese companies including China Mobile Ltd., were delisted from the New York Stock Exchange last year.
The action by the NYSE was taken to comply with an investment blacklist introduced under former U.S. President Donald Trump that bars Americans from investing in Chinese companies that the U.S. said aids China’s military, intelligence and security services.
CNOOC ‘s share sale shows that China’s corporate giants are able to access large pools of capital back home if needed, blunting the impact of being exiled from American markets.
In January, China Mobile 600941, -3.04% raised US$9 billion from a Shanghai offering.
CNOOC will use the proceeds from the offering to finance various oil field development projects.
The completion of its A-share issuance also paves the way for a special dividend plan. CNOOC hadn’t declared a dividend for 2021, saying it wanted to avoid any impact on the progress of its mainland share issuance.
CNOOC ‘s Hong Kong-listed shares 883, -3.23% were last 2.1% higher at 11.40 Hong Kong dollars (US$1.45).
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