Li Ka-shing-backed Razer sees Hong Kong IPO oversubscribed by retail bidders
Razer, a US gaming equipment maker backed by Intel Corp and Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, has seen an oversubscription from retail investors for its Hong Kong IPO that is worth up to HK$4.3 billion (US$550 million).
Applications for Razer’s public offering tranche closed at noon on Monday.
The offering, which plans to allocate 106 million shares to retail investors in Hong Kong, has already locked up a preliminary HK$34.55 billion of investor capital, according to an estimate by financial data provider Infocast. The firm estimated the size of public orders for shares based on information from 10 local brokers, including Phillip Securities, Bright Smart Securities, UOB-Kay Hian, and Haitong Securities.
It means the IPO has attracted retail investor demand of more than 80 times the number of shares on offer.
Ten per cent of the offering is intended for public investors, while 90 per cent is for international placement, which mainly targets institutional investors.
The stock is expected to debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange’s main board on November 13.
“Razer’s offering is welcomed by investors, but seems less popular than that of China Literature, as many investors are chasing the latter and have their capital locked in already,” said Edmond Hui, chief executive officer for Bright Smart Securities.
China Literature, a unit of Tencent Holdings and mainland China’s largest online publishing and e-book website, has locked in more than HK$520 billion of investor capital for its IPO, reflecting an oversubscription of 620 times. It also ranks as the second most popular IPO in Hong Kong history in terms of the amount of locked-in capital, just behind China Railway Construction’s HK$535 billion in 2008.
China Literature expects to start trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday.
For Razer’s IPO, five cornerstone investors will put in a combined US$153 million, including the Singapore government’s investment fund GIC Private, and Shenzhen real estate developer Kingkey Enterprise Holdings, each contributing US$20 million.
