April 10 (Reuters) - Swiss-based commodities trader Glencore is expected to launch a $10 billion London and Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) in mid-April.
The process in the two jurisdictions differs in both length and structure, but the dual offering is expected to be completed around the same time so the London portion will begin first.
Below is the usual IPO timetable for London and Hong Kong:
LONDON
There is no formal IPO timetable, but most companies choose to follow the month-long "two plus two" format.
Glencore may decide to be more creative on timing as its offer period is likely to coincide with several public holidays in both Europe and other parts of the world, and it has already held many pre-IPO meetings with potential investors.
DAY 1 -- Intention to float announced, research published
* A listing usually officially kicks off with an intention to float (ITF) announcement, which can detail things such as timing, the amount to be raised, existing share holdings and information on a firm's finances and operations.
* On the same day as the ITF, analyst research into the company is published.
DAY 1-14 -- Two weeks of pre-marketing
* The publication of research is usually followed by around two weeks of pre-marketing, also known as investor education, in which investors are taken through the analyst research.
DAY 15 -- Price range
* The issuer, in partnership with its investment bank advisers, sets a price range at which it will offer its shares, taking into account things such as analyst valuation estimates and feedback from investors during pre-marketing.
* A pathfinder prospectus is published at this stage.
DAY 15-30 -- Two weeks of bookbuilding, roadshows
* Books on the offer open. Management embark on roughly two weeks of roadshows, visiting investors all over the world to drum up demand, while bankers build the order book and look to narrow down where within the range the offer should price.
DAY 30 -- Final pricing and allocation
* The final price of the shares is decided and they are allocated to investors. Shares usually begin conditional trading on the same day as the final price is announced.
HONG KONG
There is no formal announcement when a company launches its listing in Hong Kong, and issuers can go ahead with an IPO at any point after they have received approval from the stock exchange listings hearing committee.
DAY 1 -- Listing document published
* The IPO starts with the publication of a company's listing document, which details information such as financials, strategy, competitors. After submitting a series of documents to the exchange, the company can go ahead with filing a prospectus with more details of the offering.
There is no fixed timeline for publishing the prospectus, but before 11 a.m. on the day it is published the company has to get authorisation to register the prospectus and file two copies of the prospectus with regulators.
DAY 1-14 -- Two weeks of pre-marketing
* Similar to in the London process, the company then spends around two weeks doing pre-marketing.
DAY 15-22 -- Eight-day roadshow
* The order books open on the institutional portion of the offering. An eight-day roadshow by company management begins.
DAY 19 -- Retail offer opens
* The retail portion of the listing, known as the Hong Kong Public Offer, begins four days after books are opened to institutional investors.
DAY 22 -- Pricing
* The institutional and retail offerings close on the same day. The offer is priced on the last day of the bookbuild and shares usually begin trading the following week.
(Compiled by Kylie MacLellan, Denny Thomas and Elzio Barreto)