The company started trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) the same day under the ticker "MY". It opened at $14.15, but fell to $13.25, 5.4 percent below the IPO price.
According to an NYSE source, the offering came after a number of Chinese companies priced their IPOs including China’s SouFun Holdings Ltd (a Beijing- based real estate Internet portal) and Country Style Cooking Restaurant Chain Co (A Chinese quick service restaurant chain), both priced in September. And Ming Yang is the only non state-owned company in wind power business on NYSE.
The company raised $350 million IPO proceeds to develop wind turbines and is focusing on the R&D. Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and BofA Merrill Lynch are acting as joint bookrunners for the offering, according to the company’s press release.
Ming Yang, a leading and fast-growing wind turbine producer, focuses on designing, manufacturing, selling and servicing megawatt-class wind turbines, according to Zhang Chuanwei, CEO of the company.
As the largest non State-owned winder power turbine maker, the company’s key wind farm customers include the five largest State-owned power producers in China, with an aggregate installed capacity accounting for more than 50 percent of China’s newly installed capacity in 2009.
China has developed rapidly in wind energy industry in the world in the past ten years, Zhang told, adding that the wind farm market is still growing which presents increasing opportunities for wind turbine makers like his company.
"Wind power in China accounted for about 25 GW of electricity generating capacity at the end of 2009, and it aims to reach 150 GW by 2020," he said.
After the IPO, the company plans to tap into international market and top the list of wind turbine manufactures in the coming three years, said Zhang, adding that the company set up an office in Dallas in May to develop its US wind farm market.
Ming Yang started developing large-scale wind turbine generator sets in 2006. With only a few years, it is already a key enterprise of worldwide equipment manufacturing in the industry.
Sharing his vision, Zhang said they saw the trend and potential in this field in 2006 and thought they must seize the opportunity to start the turbine making business.
He added that that China has provided a good environment for wind power business in terms of resources and policy.
The Chinese government has recently strengthened its support to renewable energy by amending its Renewable Energy Law, which came into effect in January 2006, and requiring the energy companies to purchase all the electricity produced by the renewable energy sector.
Last month, the State Council approved the Decision to Speed up Cultivating and Developing Strategic Emerging Industries, listing industrial sectors including energy conservation and new energies for policy support.
According to the China Academy of Meteorological Sciences, China possesses a total 235 gW of practical onshore wind power potential that can be utilized at 10 meters above the ground.
In 2009, China overtook Germany as a country with the second largest installed wind power capacity, after the United States, according to the China Wind Energy Association.
"Compared to other European turbine makers, Ming Yang not only produces standard products but also makes customized ones and this gives us the advantage to compete with them," Zhang noted.
China wind turbine maker plans $500m US listing
Mingyang Electric, one of the five biggest wind power turbine suppliers in China, plans to raise $500 million in a share sale in the United States in September, in what could be the largest such listing by a Chinese company this year, the International Financing Review reported.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse Group AG and Morgan Stanley are working on the deal. China is the world’s largest market for wind turbines, and domestic wind equipment manufacturers such as Mingyang supply 80 percent of the market. China installed more than 13 gigawatts of wind power generating capacity last year.
Mingyang’s IPO plan follows the shelving in June of a $1.17 billion Hong Kong listing by Chinese wind equipment supplier Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co Ltd. The Shenzhen-listed company pulled the offering because of fragile investor sentiment in the wake of the European sovereign debt crisis and concern about overcapacity in the sector.
China’s top wind blade maker eyes US growth
Zhonghang Huiteng Windpower Equipment Co, China’s largest maker of wind turbine blades, has targeted growth abroad, primarily in the United States, as it positions itself for a planned IPO in Shanghai, a top executive told Reuters.
The Baoding-based manufacturer, which recorded about 3 billion yuan ($439 million) in revenue yearly, aims to list shares on the Shanghai bourse, said Yih-Min Jan, general manager at Tang Energy, a Dallas-based project developer which owns 25 percent of the wind company.
"We’re looking at helping the company build its business in the US and develop its network in the North American markets," Jan told Reuters, adding that the listing could help boost the company’s profile.
The company has yet to decide on the schedule and size of the planned listing, though the planned share sale could happen in the next two years. Jan said. Analysts have predicted that the company could aim for a $500 million listing.
Strong government policies supporting wind energy development have made the United States the world’s biggest market for wind energy.
The United States has installed the most wind power in the last two years, though wind represents just over 2 percent of total installed power capacity.
The United States has set a goal of generating 20 percent of the nation’s power source from wind by 2030, making it among the biggest markets for wind equipment.
Zhonghang, which acquired a stake in a Netherland-based wind blade technology firm, CT Holding, holds a 90 percent share in China’s 600-kilowatt and 700-kilowatt turbine market, according to the company’s website.
Tang Energy, which has more than $200 million invested in various clean energy businesses both in China and the United States, runs a 60 megawatt wind farm project in the United States.
The company is looking at opportunities in various environment-related ventures including clean coal and pollution emissions-control.
"We see a lot of opportunity in coal handling as emissions from coal will remain an issue in China, which relies heavily on the fossil fuel," said Jan. "Energy efficiency is another area we’re looking at," he said.
Installed wind power capacity in N China region grows 40 times
The installed capacity of wind power in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region grew over 40 times to 7.3 million kilowatts by the end of March from 170,000 kw in 2005, figures released Thursday by a local power company showed.
"Around 20 percent of power in the region is supplied by wind as of February. That is close to the level of some of the world’s most wind-power-boasting countries like Norway and Denmark," said Zhang Fusheng, general manager of Inner Mongolia Electric Power Corporation.
Inner Mongolia has the most abundant wind resources in China. Wind resources in the region that can be developed by existing technologies have hit 150 million kw, accounting for 50 percent of the country’s total wind resources on land, he said.
By Zhang Yuwei, www.chinadaily.com.cn
