Shandong Shipping is planning to delist its shares from a Chinese over-the-counter market, paving the way for an overseas initial public offering (IPO) at later stage.
The company said that for its "strategic development" and to have smoother operations in the capital markets, its board is proposing to delistfrom the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ).
“This will help us launch an overseas IPO in the future,” Shandong Shipping said in a regulatory filing.
If the plan receives shareholders’ approval, Shandong Shipping expects to apply to the NEEQ for the delisting by early May.
The company will offer to buy back its shares from dissident shareholders at their original purchase price or the net asset value per share as calculated from its last audited report, according to the filing.
Established by local authorities in 2010, Qingdao-based Shandong Shipping has long had the ambition to launch an IPO at home or abroad.
The company earlier opted to float its shares on the NEEQ OTC market in January 2016, though, after IPO activity came to a halt in stock exchanges of mainland China amid turbulent share trading.
Originally a dry bulk player that made a name for itself for a $500m valemax deal in 2013, Shandong Shipping has expanded into the LPG and oil shipping sectors in recent years.
The company is about to sign long-term charters with Shell to build and own up to 16 MR tankers, keen on using the publicity generated by the major deal to fuel its IPO drive, TradeWinds reported earlier.
According to Clarksons, Shandong Shipping owns 34 vessels totalling 2.87 million dwt in operation and 14 ships totalling 2.27 million dwt on order. Of them, 29 are bulk carriers and 14 are LPG carriers.
As of end-June, total assets of the company reached CNY 14.9bn ($2.23bn) and liabilities amounted to CNY 10.8bn.
Shandong Shipping posted net profits of CNY 55.2m on revenues of CNY 2.92bn during the first half of last year, compared with net losses of CNY 312,000 on revenues of CNY 2.15bn in the same period of 2017.
