Chinese Estates Holdings the Hong Kong developer controlled by billionaire Joseph Lau, canceled a share sale to raise as much as HK$1.7bn, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Chinese Estates was offering 118 million shares at HK$13.26 to HK$14.17 each, according to an e-mail to fund managers yesterday. It could have increased the number of shares on sale by 29.5 million, or 25% of the initial size, to meet excess demand, the sale document showed.

The sale attracted enough orders though the company decided not to proceed, according to two of the people, who declined to be identified because the information is not public.

bloomberg.com