Solid support for Shanshui sell-down

Two pre-IPO investors in China Shanshui Cement Group yesterday took advantage of a strong rally in the company's share price over the past couple of weeks to cash in part of their holdings. And it seemed investors were only too happy for the opportunity to buy into an otherwise fairly illiquid name in a sector that is one of the key beneficiaries of the infrastructure spending generated out of China's economic stimulus package -- never mind that the stock is already trading at record levels.

According to sources, the HK$1 billion ($129 million) placement, which accounted for 9.8% of the market capitalisation, was almost three times covered and was priced close to the top of the offering range, something that is rare these days as investors are typically trying to hedge their bets by buying shares at the widest possible discount.