Phoenix Satellite Television, an operator of Chinese-language television channels, plans to raise up to HK$1 billion ($128.3 million) in an initial public offering on Hong Kong's Growth Enterprise Market, to help finance a new 24-hour regional news channel modelled on US-based Cable News Network (CNN).
The Hong Kong-based company starts a roadshow in Singapore tomorrow. It then plans to talk to investors in Hong Kong before moving to Europe and the US. It will hold a press conference 20 June to announce details of the listing, which is being co-managed by Merrill Lynch and Bank of China International.
Phoenix, which launched in 1996, is a joint venture between Satellite Television Asian Region (Star TV); Bank of China; and Liu Changle, a Chinese businessman. The company posted a loss of HK$78 million in fiscal 1999 compared with a loss of HK$131 million the year earlier, according to the underwriters.
Revenue rose 80% to HK$315 million from the year-earlier period. The company is expected to post a profit of HK4 million in the year ending 31 June 2000.
Phoenix plans to launch its new 24-hour news channel by the fourth quarter of this year, the underwriters say. The company also plans to launch a Chinese-language channel in the US.
