HAITIAN FLAV rose 13% in Hong Kong grey market trading.

Foshan Haitian Flavouring & Food has raised HK$10.1 billion (US$1.3 billion) after robust demand for its shares to be listed in Hong Kong allowed China’s biggest soy sauce maker to increase the deal size.

The company, whose shares already trade in Shanghai, sold 279 million shares at HK$36.30 each, the top end of the marketed price range, according to terms of the deal seen by Bloomberg News. That reflects a roughly 17 per cent discount to Foshan Haitian’s Monday closing price of 40.12 yuan (US$5.60) in Shanghai.

About 6 per cent more shares were offered after the company exercised the upsize option. Investors expressed interest for multiple times the shares available on the first day it started taking orders last week, people familiar with the matter have said. The new shares are due to start trading in Hong Kong on Thursday.

Foshan Haitian’s deal would be among the largest listings in Hong Kong this year, where demand for share offerings has rebounded and China-listed companies are increasingly seeking second floats. Battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology’s more than US$5 billion listing last month helped fuel the most action in the city’s equity capital markets in years.

Eight cornerstone investors, which agreed to hold Foshan Haitian’s shares for at least six months, bought US$595 million worth of the stock, making up about 46 per cent of the deal. Those investors include Hillhouse Investment, Singapore’s sovereign-wealth fund GIC and RBC Global Asset Management.

The proceeds will be used to develop new products, expand production capacity and enhance its overseas supply chain, the company said. Its origins stem from a merger of 25 soy sauce factories in 1955.