ESR Cayman, one of Asia’s largest warehousing companies, has kicked off a HK$9.76 billion $1.24 billion initial public offering that is set to leave Hong Kong in a stronger position against its regional rivals in the race to host prime logistics companies.
Created through the merger of Warburg Pincus-backed e-Shang and Singaporean warehouse builder Redwood Group in 2016, ESR started collecting institutional orders for its 560.7 million-share IPO on Wednesday. The retail offering is slated to begin Thursday.
Even if ESR prices its share sale at the bottom of the HK$16.2-to-HK$17.4 indicative price range, it will still become Hong Kong’s largest IPO this year,...