Chinese hot-pot chain eyes $150 mln HK IPO-paper

HONG KONG, April 12 (Reuters) - Chinese hot-pot restaurant chain Little Sheep Group aims to raise up to $150 million in an initial public offering in Hong Kong in the second quarter, a Hong Kong newspaper reported on Saturday.

The South China Morning Post cited unidentified sources as saying the restaurant chain, which runs 703 restaurants in 32 provinces in China and in Hong Kong, planned to raise capital to boost capacity at its mutton processing plants and ingredients factories.

The IPO is expected to kick off in June and Merrill Lynch MER.N and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) are the arrangers of the deal, the paper added. It gave no further listing details.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI has risen about 8 percent so far in April after the blue chip index plunged nearly 18 percent in the first quarter, leading numerous companies to delay or scrap share sales in Hong Kong. (US$1=HK$7.8) (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Jan Dahinten)