Hutchison Whampoa’s sale of Chinese port assets may raise more than Singapore’s combined 31 initial public offerings last year, boosting the city’s efforts to compete as a financial centre.

Hutchison, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, said yesterday it will sell a stake in a trust holding container ports in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong province, along with associated businesses and some Chinese river ports. The sale may raise US$6 billion ($7.7 billion), the IFR news service reported yesterday.

An offering of that size would be a record for the city-state, eclipsing the US$4 billion raised by Singapore Telecommunications in 1993. IPO proceeds in Singapore totalled US$5.7 billion last year, trailing the US$49.5 billion raised in Hong Kong, according to data compiled by Bloomberg that exclude overallotment shares.

“Given there’s so many companies listing in Hong Kong, you can say the Singapore Exchange won this time,” said Nicholas Yeo, who helps oversee Chinese equities at Aberdeen Asset Management, which manages US$261 billion globally. “This is definitely a boost to the Singapore market.”

Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 10% last year and 64% in 2009, outperforming Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, which rose 5.3% in 2010 and 52% the previous year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.