Cleary Gottlieb represented Kingboard Laminates Holdings Limited and its parent, Kingboard Chemical Holdings Limited, in the HK$6.4 billion (US$817 million) initial public offering of ordinary shares of Kingboard Laminates. The global offering included a Hong Kong public offering with a listing on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, an offering to institutional investors elsewhere in the world and a preferential offering to existing shareholders of Kingboard Chemical. The global offering of ordinary shares closed on December 7.
The IPO resulted from the spin-off by Kingboard Chemical of its laminate and laminate-related operations. Following the spin-off, Kingboard Chemical will continue to operate its PCB and chemicals businesses. The transaction is the largest spin-off to date on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong by a manufacturing company.
Hong Kong-based Kingboard Laiminates is a leading vertically-integrated electronics materials manufacturer specializing in laminates. Laminates are a fundamental component material that are used in the production of printed circuit boards (“PCBs”), which are in turn used in the production of a wide variety of electronics products.