NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of Noah Education Holdings Ltd., a Chinese provider of interactive education content, surged Friday after the company’s initial public offering of 9.8 million American Depositary Shares priced well above expectations.
Noah’s IPO priced at $14 per ADS, above the anticipated price range of $9.80 to $11.80 per share.
In afternoon trading, Noah shares surged $6.30, or 45 percent, to $20.30. The stock has traded as high as $23.70, 69 percent above the IPO price.
Noah’s IPO follows the highly successful debut of another Chinese company, China Digital TV Holding Co., earlier this month. China Digital TV provides smart cards and software that allow digital television network operators in China to control their subscribers’ access to content and services, such as on-demand viewing and pay-per-channel programming.
China Digital shares spiked 75 percent over the IPO price of $16 in their first day of trading and have since more than doubled.
Noah develops multimedia learning materials to complement textbooks used in China’s primary and secondary schools. The multimedia content is delivered through handheld digital learning devices, into which its content is embedded or downloaded at the point of sale, at download centers or on the company’s Web site. Noah also sells electronic dictionaries and recently began offering after-school tutoring programs.
The company sold 8.7 million ADS and a shareholder, Baring Asia II Holdings, offered the remaining 1.1 million ADS. An American Depositary Share represents an underlying security in the issuer’s home country. In this offering, each ADS represents one ordinary share.
For the year ended June 30, Noah Education reported net income attributable to ordinary shareholders of $6.1 million on revenue of $72.9 million.
Deutsche Bank Securities served as the IPO’s lead underwriter. CIBC World Markets, Thomas Weisel Partners and First Shanghai Securities served as underwriters.
Noah has given the underwriters an option to buy up to roughly 1.5 million additional ADS to cover overallotments.
Noah’s ADS are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NED.”
