Nicaragua canal developer plans IPO, but won't say, when, where or how much

HONG KONG's HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co Ltd (HKND Group) is preparing to launch an initial public offering to fund a concession to build a US$50 billion canal across Nicaragua, the company announced.

HKND Group chairman and CEO Wang Jing told reporters in Managua that he hoped the listing would take place in the stock market that offered the best conditions, Reuters reported.

Mr Wang, who owns the HKND Group's parent company, the troubled, but well-connected Beijing-base Xinwei, an international telecommunications concern, gave no details of how much HKND hoped to raise, nor when the offering might be. 

He said the company was preparing a prospectus which would reveal the investors behind the waterway that seeks to compete with the Panama Canal.

More than a year since it was first announced, the canal project faced widespread scepticism, with questions still open about who will provide financing, how seriously it will affect Lake Nicaragua and how much land will be expropriated for it.