Financial Planner George Soros / Photo: Corbis

Billionaire philanthropist and investor George Soros is seen investing at least $50 million to subscribe for shares in the initial public offering of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd, Ming Pao Daily News reported on Wednesday citing sources close to the deal.

Henderson Land chairman Lee Shau Kee and Chinese Estates chairman Joseph Lau are also seen subscribing for Chow Tai Fook shares, the paper cited the sources as saying, without providing further details.

Chow Tai Fook could raise up to $2.83 billion, which would be the biggest Hong Kong initial public offering of the year, tapping volatile equity markets to fund the purchase of diamonds and gold and pay down debt.

The IPO, one of the most anticipated of the year because of its size and the wide brand recognition of Chow Tai Fook in Greater China, would value the company at about $27 billion, nearly three times the size of U.S. jeweller Tiffany & Co. . (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)