TECH - Spate Of Hong Kong IPOs Provides Glimmer Of Hope For Chinese Investors Amid Week-Long Sell-off | Benzinga
Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) presented a tentative counter-punch to the heavy selling this week in Hong Kong prompted by a rout among property and consumer stocks. Six companies listed on the Hang Seng Index, with Tencent Holdings Limited (OTC: TCEHY)-backed Tuhu Car Inc. and AI giant Beijing Fourth Paradigm Technology Co., Ltd. presenting two of the exchange’s largest listings so far this year.
In addition., mobile game operator ZX Inc. was 103 times oversubscribed, representing Hong Kong’s largest oversubscription to date this year. Wuhan YZY Biopharma Co. Ltd., LC Logistics Inc. and hospital cloud software maker Neusoft Xikang Holdings Inc. also saw oversubscribed offerings.
The week’s IPO frenzy marks a rare moment of new listings activity for the exchange, which has seen deal volume drop 14% and total value raised plunge 61% overall in the first three quarters of the year, according to a recently-published IPO report by Deloitte Consulting.
"Many IPO candidates continue to wait-and-see for a turnaround in market valuations while preparing and planning their offerings,” Deloitte’s analysts wrote about the Hong Kong listings market this year.
Mostly, the drop in deal volume has been the result of a dramatic decrease in the number of secondary listings of mainland-listed A-shares issuers. In 2022, the top five IPOs raised HK$44.7 billion ($5.6 billion), all of which were existing Chinese mainland-listed stocks. This year, just one of the top five company listings falls into that category, which collectively have raised HK$10.8 billion. 2022’s largest issuer, China Tourism Group Duty Free Limited, dwarfed any of the Hang Seng’s year-to-date listings.
Still, the robust demand for Hong Kong equities that are being listed by the exchange represented in this week’s line-up of new ...