Leasing Arm of Chinese Shipping Company Floats Shares

by K.K. Chadwa in Hong Kong

The Florens Group, wholly owned container leasing subsidiary of China Ocean Shipping Co. (Cosco), plans to float 25% of its existing shares this month to raise HK$600m to retire debt and expand operations. Managing Director Luk Chiwing said one-third, or HK$200m, will be used to retire high-interest rate bank loans. The remainder will be used to buy more containers and to expand into container manufacturing and port operations.

Currently, Florens owns more than 260,000 TEUs, ranking it among the ten largest container leasing companies in the world. Recently, orders were placed for 3,000 refrigerated TEUs from South Korea and Japan, costing about $320m. Dry containers are bought from China; and Florens was looking for partners outside the Cosco Group to set up joint ventures in Hong Kong or China.

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