This article only represents the author's own views.
After months of rumors, leading Chinese meat producer WH Group Ltd. (0288.HK) is finally serving up some new bacon for investors by confirming plans to spin off its Smithfield Foods subsidiary for a separate listing in New York. The IPO is expected to raise at least $1 billion by re-listing Smithfield on the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq as soon as this year, according to a WH Group announcement earlier this month.
WH was considering such a move for quite a while, and rumors started to circulate as early as last October. Investors gobbled up the story by bidding up WH Group shares 5.2%, their biggest daily increase since April, after Bloomberg reported on the plan several days before the official announcement. The rally continued after the official news release, though a 7% jump eventually fizzled and the stock ended up by a slight 0.2% at HK$5.23 for the day.