SPP Shipbuilding Considers $300M IPO

South Korea's SPP Shipbuilding is seeking to raise about $300m in an initial public offering in South Korea next year, a person familiar with the situation recently indicated. A company spokesperson confirmed that SPP is mulling a share float, but declined to give a time frame or value on the deal. The company had considered making a share offering at home and abroad, but now has no plan to list its shares outside the country, the spokesperson reportedly said. SPP Shipbuilding, which ranks 30th in the global shipbuilding industry by order backlog, reportedly manufactures about 12 product and bulk carriers a year. The mid-size shipbuilder has showed explosive growth in net profit, which soared to $11.1m in 2006, up from $1.1m a year earlier, as it benefits from the boom in global commodity prices. [Source: Dow Jones]