Great Wall asset shortlisting pre-IPO investors

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China Great Wall Asset Management Corporation, one of the country's biggest debt managers, said it is making a shortlist of strategic investors in preparation for an initial public offering (IPO).

“Global investors are very enthusiastic,” Meng Xiaodong, the vice president of Great Wall Asset, said at a news conference hosted by the banking regulator on Thursday.

He said that the company has been approached by roughly 200 companies, more than 70 of which are renowned investors. Meng said once the shortlist is made, it will be subject to approval by regulators.

The company is one of China's four asset management companies which were set up in 1999 to deal with the toxic assets of the country's four big state-owned banks with the hopes of making them into market-oriented financial institutions.

China Great Wall Asset Management Corporation in Beijing /VCG Photo

Since the company became a joint-stock company with 97 percent of shares held by the Ministry of Finance, 2 percent by the National Council for Social Security Fund and 1 percent by China Life Insurance Company last December, it has been seeking investors to buy stakes, setting its stage for an IPO on at least one stock exchange on the mainland or in Hong Kong as early as this year.

During the first nine months of 2017, the company had purchased bad assets totalling 129.3 billion yuan (19.63 billion US dollar), a surge of 154.32 percent year-on-year. That included financial assets of 73 billion yuan, an increase of 120.17 percent year-on-year, and non-financial assets of 56.3 billion yuan, a jump of 160.89 percent.

While the size of bad assets has been rising, the growth rate will slow down as a result of the stabilized economy and emergence of new growth engines, Meng said.

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