Shuanghui aiming for Hong Kong IPO in 2014

China's Shuanghui International Holdings, which bought US pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc this year, has hired banks for a Hong Kong IPO, seeking to raise up to $6 billion in what could be the region's largest stock offering in four years, Reuters reported Wednesday.

An IPO would allow Shuanghui to pay down debt that it borrowed for the $4.7 billion Smithfield purchase and provide an exit for investors such as CDH, one of China's biggest and oldest private equity firms which has long wanted to sell its stake in the company.

The potential deal size is subject to change. While one source familiar with the matter said it could go as high as $6 billion, another said it was more likely to be in the $3 billion to $4 billion range.

"The IPO will give a platform for existing shareholders to cash out of their investments, but it will have limited impact on the operations of the company," said Anson Chan, an analyst at KGI Securities.

"But the IPO will be a milestone in Shuanghui's journey from a local company to an international food company, which underscores the maturing of China's food industry," he said. Chan currently does not rate the company.

The listing, expected in the second quarter of 2014, would follow an up to $5 billion IPO for the Hong Kong electricity business of tycoon Li Ka-shing's Power Assets Holdings Ltd.

Both deals would be a major boost for the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which has seen public offering volumes drop over the last two years.

Shuanghui has tapped BOC International, CITIC Securities International, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered and UBS to lead the IPO, sources familiar with the matter said. The news was first reported by IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication. The bank line-up is not final, one person familiar with the plan said.

A representative for Shuanghui said in an e-mail to Reuters the company would not comment on any enquiries related to a possible IPO.