Sany Jumps After First Chinese Step to List GDRs in Switzerland via LSE Link

Shares of China's Sany Heavy Industry rose after the engineering equipment giant said it intends to become the first Chinese company to list its shares in Switzerland via the Shanghai-London Stock Connect.

Sany's stock price [SHE: 600031] surged as much as 4.7 percent to CNY17.27 (USD2.70) intraday. The shares are still down by almost a quarter this year.

The heavy equipment maker will issue global depositary receipts via the link between the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange and list them on Switzerland's principal exchange, the Six Swiss Exchange, the Changsha-based firm said in a statement yesterday.

Policy change enabled the move. Last December, China's main securities regulator revised the rules of the Chinese-British securities connectivity program to expand the scope to Switzerland and Germany.

The company is a major player in its sector. Sany has the highest global market share of excavation and concrete machinery, according to the firm's announcement.

The scale and feasibility of the issuance are still unknown. The plan needs to be approved by Sany's board of directors and shareholders, as well as domestic and foreign authorities, including the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Six Swiss Exchange, said the firm.

Sany would use the listing proceeds to promote its international business, which should improve its competitiveness and profitability, it said. The GDR issuance would optimize the company's shareholding structure while enhancing its transparency and standardization of corporate governance, it added.