The share price of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. (0388.HK) had performed admirably the last few weeks as investors were encouraged by the increased trading volume and expectation of the rolling out of Yuan-denominated products. HKEx had also become the top IPO drawers this year following the blockbuster listing of China Agriculture Bank. The ability of the Exchange to attract non-Chinese enterprises to list there, such as RUSAL, L'OCCITANE and mining companies had added its appeal to investors despite its relatively rich valuation.
After a strong run, the share price of HKEx is now close to the level where the Hong Kong government made its last purchase of the company in September 2007. In the Hong Kong government’s previous purchase, which pushed the government's shareholding over the 5 percent threshold, the government spent HK$2.44 billion to buy 15.72 million shares at an average HK$155.22 per share to increase its stake from 4.41 percent to 5.88 percent, based on calculations using the number of shares and total cost provided by market source. The Hong Kong government is the single largest shareholder in HKEx.