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Pork giant WH Group slashes IPO, delays pricing on lack of demand - IFR

Employees prepare slaughtered pigs along a production line at a factory of Shuanghui (Shineway) Group in Luohe, Henan province, June 17, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's WH Group Ltd, the world's biggest pork company, <0288.HK> is slashing its proposed Hong Kong initial public offering and delaying pricing of the deal to next week due to lack of demand, IFR reported on Tuesday, citing sources close to the company. The company will now sell fewer primary shares than initially planned, and no stock from existing shareholders, said IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication. The exact scale of the downsizing of the IPO could not be immediately confirmed. WH Group declined to comment on the report. WH Group and shareholders including Goldman Sachs , Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings and CDH Investments offered a combined 3.65 billion shares, valuing the total deal at up to HK$41.06 billion (3.1 billion pounds). Pricing had been slated for April 22, and the company had been due to debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange on April 30. (Reporting by Fiona Lau of IFR; Writing by Elzio Barreto; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)