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WH Group enjoyed a solid first day of trading in Hong Kong, bringing an end to the on-off listing saga of the world’s biggest producer of pork.
万洲国际(WH Group)在香港挂牌交易首日表现强劲，给世界最大猪肉生产商断断续续的上市故事画上句号。
Shares in the Sino-US company rose as much as 10 per cent in early trading yesterday before finishing the day with a gain of 7.4 per cent.
昨日早盘，这家中美公司的股价曾上涨10%，当天收涨7.4%。
The Henan-based company is the product of last year’s $7bn takeover of Smithfield Foods by China’s Shuanghui International, the two largest players in their respective markets. WH Group also holds more than a third of Campofrio, the European meat producer.
总部位于中国河南的该公司是去年中国双汇国际(Shuanghui International)以70亿美元收购史密斯菲尔德食品公司(Smithfield Foods)的产物，之前两者都是各自市场的最大企业。万洲国际还持有欧洲肉类制品企业Campofrio逾三分之一的股权。
The road to becoming a listed company has been long and bumpy for WH Group. Having hired banks last November, the company first sought to list in April – just six months after the Smithfield deal received regulatory approval.
万洲国际的上市之路漫长而又颠簸。该公司去年11月聘用银行之后，最初寻求在今年4月上市——距离收购史密斯菲尔德食品公司案获得监管批准仅仅6个月。
The initial goal was to raise more than $4bn, with private equity shareholders seeking to offload additional stock that, at one point, took the potential deal size to $6.2bn.
万洲国际最初目标是筹资超过40亿美元，同时私人股本股东寻求出手更多股票，一度令潜在筹资金额高达62亿美元。
However, investors rejected what they saw as an excessive valuation, and expressed concern over the swift drive towards an initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter at the time. WH Group also drew criticism after a share-based bonus payment to two executives worth almost $600m pushed the company into a loss for 2013.
但知情人士当时表示，投资者拒绝接受他们认为过高的估值，并对该公司迅速谋求首次公开发行(IPO)表示担忧。万洲国际也遭到了批评，因为其向两位高管支付近6亿美元股票奖金，导致公司2013年发生亏损。
The company responded by slashing the size of its IPO to less than $2bn and delaying the float by a week, but maintained its share price range.
万洲国际的对策是将IPO规模砍掉一半、降至不到20亿美元，并将上市时间推后一周，但保持发行价范围不变。
That too failed to win over investors, forcing an embarrassing last-minute decision to pull the deal completely. Many believed WH Group would need to wait months before it could try again.
此举未能让投资者满意，被迫令人尴尬地在最后时刻宣布暂停上市。许多人认为，万洲国际需要等几个月才会再次发起上市努力。
However, after cutting the number of banks working on the deal from a record 29 to just two – Morgan Stanley and Bank of China International – the company was able to revive the float and raised over $2bn from a quick, low-profile deal last week.
然而，万洲国际把办理上市的银行数量从创纪录的29家砍到摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)和中银国际(Bank of China International)两家之后，上周得以重启上市努力，通过迅速、低调的交易筹资逾20亿美元。
WH Group sold shares at a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.5 times, down from its original target in April of 15-21 times. First-quarter earnings, which were included in listing documents for the rebooted deal, showed a notable rise in profits, which also helped to lower the p/e ratio.
万洲国际昨日发行价的市盈率为11.5倍，低于4月15至21倍的初始目标。重启上市努力时提交的上市文件显示，第一季度利润显著上升，这也帮助降低了市盈率。
The cash raised will be used to pay down some of the roughly $4bn in debt taken on to finance the Smithfield takeover.
IPO筹得的现金将用于偿还融资收购史密斯菲尔德食品公司所欠约40亿美元债务的一部分。
