(Clarifies share ownership in 5th paragraph)
SYDNEY, Nov 19 (Reuters) - An Australian pig veterinarian plans to raise A$40 million ($29 million) in an initial public offering, saying he plans to use the cash to buy 12 livestock health businesses and capitalise on an export boom tipped to follow a trade deal with China.
Companies linked to Australian agriculture exports are defying a slowdown in IPO activity and rushing to list in 2015, hoping to benefit from a Free Trade Agreement that involves cutting tariffs on some A$100 billion of annual trade with the country's biggest export destination.
"These changes to tariffs are expected to be significant developments for Australian producers given that China is a substantial trade partner," said the latest Australian agribusiness firm to list, Apiam Animal Health Ltd, in a prospectus.
Apiam, formed by pig vet Chris Richards in 1998, plans to use the IPO proceeds to buy 12 vet businesses treating 35 percent of the country's pig industry, 50 percent of its beef cattle industry and 25 percent of its dairy cattle industry, the prospectus said.
The company plans to sell 40 million of its 98.5 million shares at A$1 each, giving it a market capitalisation of A$98.5 million. Richards, and the owners of the clinics he is buying, plan to keep the rest, worth A$58.5 million.
Since the company's earnings will come from businesses it plans to buy after the IPO, Apiam gave no profit history but said it expected pretax earnings to grow 15 percent in the current financial year, compared with the previous year.
The company plans to debut on the Australian Securities Exchange on Dec. 17. Shaw and Partners is the lead manager on the IPO. ($1 = 1.3937 Australian dollars)