Going public has been a rocky road for gaming company Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM). In April 2006 Winnie Ho Yuen-ki, a 7.3% stakeholder in the parent company Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM) and Stanley Ho’s estranged sister, asked the Macau court to issue an injunction stopping the SJM initial public offering in Hong Kong. Her attempt failed and it was anticipated that the IPO to raise an estimated US$1.9 billion would go ahead early in 2007.

By the end of November 2007 the IPO had still not taken place owing to further legal problems and the expectation of the amount to be raised had fallen to around US$1 billion. The launch was reportedly to be in January 2008. 1.25 billion new shares were finally offered to institutional investors this month and trading on the Hang Seng should have started on 10 July. The IPO was now bidding to raise up to US$654 million and again Winnie Ho sought to have the listing halted.

Hong Kong's Court of Appeal dismissed the claim last Tuesday and the delayed trading debut will now take place tomorrow. However, individual investors have already withdrawn applications for over half their IPO shares and the stock market has lost 18% of its value since May. Last week’s SJM IPO raised just US$494 million after the more than two-year postponement. Winnie Ho is also set on bringing her case before the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal and the prospect of litigation will likely have a further dampening effect on SJM shares. (E-07.15.08)

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