Chinese private equity¹ group CDH Investments is to raise $1.2bn by selling down one-third of its holding in WH Group, the Sino-US pork producer whose struggles to list in 2014 were an embarrassment² for Hong Kong’s investment banking³ community.

中国的私人股本集团鼎晖投资(CDH Investments)拟将所持万洲国际(WH Group)股份减持三分之一，以便筹集12亿美元。万洲国际是一家拥有中美业务的猪肉生产商，其在2014年的艰难上市令香港投资银行界颇感难堪。

Private equity backers of the company were unable to cash out as planned in the float, which eventually raised one-third of the initial $6bn touted⁴ by bankers.

万洲国际的私人股本支持者无法按计划在其上市时套现投资；银行家们曾吹嘘该公司能够筹资60亿美元，最终仅筹到三分之一。

Owners at that point also included Goldman Sachs’ private equity arm as well as Temasek, the Singaporean state investment group.

当时的东家还包括高盛(Goldman Sachs)旗下私募股权机构，以及新加坡国有投资集团淡马锡(Temasek)。

The float attracted headlines after WH Group’s first attempt failed in spite of enlisting⁵ a record 29 banks — and after halving⁶ the planned size of the deal.

万州国际的上市吸引了媒体关注，尽管该公司请来了创纪录的29家银行，且将原计划的交易规模减半，但首次上市尝试以失败告终。

The company eventually went public three months later.

该公司最终在3个月后上市。

Reasons for the deal’s failure, in addition to its unwieldy collection of advisers⁷.

除了顾问团大得失控以外，万洲国际交易失败的原因还包括，人们怀疑这家成立不久的集团会否成功。

Included doubts over the success of its recent formation from the $7bn takeover in 2013 of US producer Smithfield Foods by China’s Shuanghui International — still the largest takeover of a US company by a Chinese one.

万洲国际诞生于2013年中国双汇国际(Shuanghui International)以70亿美元并购美国史密斯菲尔德食品公司(Smithfield Foods)；这桩交易仍是中国企业对美国企业做出的最大并购。

Shuanghui’s private equity backers, including CDH, were instrumental in that merger⁸, arguing a global pork producer could command higher valuations.

双汇的私募股权支持者（包括鼎晖）在上述并购中发挥了重要作用，他们辩称，一家全球猪肉生产商可以赢得更高估值。

CDH is one of the longer-running Chinese private equity funds, formed in 2002 with a history of exiting its investments via public floats.

成立于2002年的鼎晖是中国运营时间较长的私募股权基金之一，该公司具有通过首次公开发行(IPO)退出投资的记录。

Earlier this year it cashed out its final stake in Luye Pharma, another 2014 Hong Kong initial public offering also trading below its issue price.

今年早些时候，鼎晖将其在绿叶制药(Luye Pharma)最后的股份套现——绿叶制药的股价也低于其2014年在香港上市时的发行价。

CDH’s sale of WH Group shares at HK$5.95 each this week hands the PE group a loss of $50m on the shares’ price at IPO.

鼎晖本周以每股5.95港元出售万洲国际股票，将使这家私募股权集团损失5000万美元——以该股的IPO价格计算。

WH Group floated at HK$6.20 a share, representing at the time a discount to other listed meat producers.

万洲国际的发行价是每股6.20港元，当时相对其他上市肉类生产商存在一个折扣。

Last week WH Group reported better than expected first-half profits, helped by the rise in prices in China, the world’s biggest pork consumer.

上周，万洲国际发布的上半年利润好于预期——得益于全球最大猪肉消费国中国猪肉价格的上涨。

Demand from the mainland also lifted pork prices in the US, WH Group’s second-biggest market, from which exports to China jumped 140 per cent.

中国大陆对猪肉的需求还提升了美国（万洲国际的第二大市场）的猪肉价格，因为美国对中国的猪肉出口激增140%。

The company warned, however, that it expected pork prices to decline gradually as supply grew to meet demand.

然而，该公司警告称，随着供应逐渐能够满足需求，预计猪肉价格将逐渐回落。