Oct. 15, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Huayi Brothers Media Corp, the largest privately owned film company in China, started offering 42 million RMB-denominated A shares on the Growth Enterprise Market of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange today.

The Beijing-based film company is expected to raise RMB 1.2 billion from the issuance of the shares priced at RMB 28.58 per share.

According to the IPO prospectus, Wang Zhongjun and Wang Zhonglei, the brothers who founded the company in 1994, are the controlling shareholders of the company, holding 43.91 million and 13.90 million shares. Ma Yun, chairman of Alibaba Group, is the third largest shareholder in the company, with 13.82 million shares.

Huayi is known for its production of films by Chinese director Feng Xiaogang, including If You Are The One, The Message, and Assembly, which have all set new box office record in China.

In the first half of this year, Huayi reported net profit of RMB 31.63 million, and it is estimated that the company's net profit for the whole year will hit RMB 82.76 million.