Taipei, Sept 9 - Want Want China Holdings, one of China's biggest snack makers, said on Tuesday it plans to offer shares in Taiwan, responding to new government measures aimed at getting more Taiwan firms to list at home.
Want Want China, consisting of the China-based assets of Taiwan's Want Want Group, will use shares held by its major stakeholders to make the offering of Taiwan depositary receipts (TDRs), said Chief Financial Officer Everett Chu.
The company would continue to have its primary listing in Hong Kong.
Chu did not provide a timetable or amount for the Taiwan offering, which the Chinese-language Economic Daily said could be worth about $100 million.
"We are thinking of doing a TDR offering in Taiwan, and we'll do it very soon," Chu told a media briefing. "We're doing this in response to the Taiwan government's policy aimed at getting Taiwan firms to come back home to list."
Chu added that Want Want China's capex budget for this year is about $180 million, and should be between $150-200 million in 2009.
Want Want's move is part of broader efforts by Taiwan to attract its firms that are operating in China to come home for listings, as Taiwan business ties with China have improved under the administration of new President Ma Ying-jeou. [ID:nSP344373]
Prior to recent policy changes, Taiwan firms with more than 40 percent of their net assets in China were barred from making public offerings in their home market -- the result of past measures designed to discourage over-reliance on China.
China has claimed self-ruled Taiwan as its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and pledged to bring the island under its rule, by force if necessary.
Despite close economic ties that have seen Taiwan firms invest more than $100 billion in China over the last two decades, diplomatic relations across the Taiwan Strait were icy for much of the last eight years under the previous administration.
Want Want kicked off its IPO in Hong Kong in March, and has expanded beyond its core business by buying hotels and an insurance firm in Taiwan on expectations of better trade ties between China and the island.
Want Want listed in Singapore in 1988 and delisted in September 2007.
On Tuesday, shares of Want Want rose 0.29 percent in Hong Kong, outperforming the Hang Seng Index's 1.46 percent drop.