HONG KONG (Reuters) -Chinese manufacturer Sany Heavy Industry is planning a listing in Hong Kong that could raise up to $1.5 billion, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The people could not be named as they were discussing confidential information. Sany did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sany Heavy Industry has tapped Bank of America, JPMorgan and CITIC Securities to work on the potential float, the people said.

The listing could happen in the second half of this year, one of the those added.

Sany Heavy Industry is listed in Shanghai and has a market capitalisation of about $20 billion.

JPMorgan and CITIC declined to comment while Bank of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Preparations for the listing are just starting and terms of the offering could still change, cautioned the sources

Sany Heavy Industry is primarily engaged in equipment manufacturing, with products including concrete machinery, excavating machinery, lifting machinery, road construction machinery, and pile-driving machinery.

The company reported a 96% year-on-year growth in net profit for the third quarter of 2024. Net profit amounted to 4.87 billion yuan for the first nine months of 2024, up 20% year-on-year, according to its latest financial disclosure.

Founded more than three decades ago in Central China's Hunan province, Sany Heavy Industry now has operations and factories in the U.S., Europe, India, Brazil and Germany, as well as five manufacturing clusters in China, its website showed.

Sany Heavy Industry had previously attempted to list in Hong Kong in 2011 but the offering was delayed due to market conditions, according to Reuters reports at the time.