Conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, controlled by tycoon Li Ka-shing, says it has won "conditional approval" to spin off some of its port assets in a listing in Singapore. The assets include ports in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong province. But it has not revealed how much it plans to raise.

Last month, a report said the listing could raise between US$3-billion and US$6-billion, making it the biggest ever initial public offering in Singapore. Hutchison chose to list in Singapore because Hong Kong does not allow a trust, except for real estate investment trusts, to go public.