Tech firms are finding Hong Kong as an IPO destination, but is it too late for the city to catch up?
The drop in IPO amounts may signal Hong Kong’s transformation into a more mature capital market that caters to needs of small to medium-sized firms with growth potential, analysts say
Hong Kong’s stock market has seen a flurry of fundraising this year by technology and internet companies, with five of the city’s 10 largest initial public offerings occupied by companies in the new economy, compared with none last year.
Most of these listings received overwhelming response from investors, who overbought the new shares by several hundred times the number of shares on offer.
Listings by bank and securities firms, traditionally the staples of Hong Kong’s capital market, have halved to 30 per cent of this year’s top IPOs, from 60 per cent last year, in line with regulators’ goal to draw more new economy firms to float.
Among the internet stars, ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance, China’s first online-only insurer backed by Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial Services Group, Tencent Holdings, and Ping An Insurance, was the first to shine. Hong Kong’s biggest fintech listing to date raised HK$11.9 billion (US$1.52 billion), and its shares have risen nearly 17 per cent since its September 28 debut, closing at HK$69.75 on Friday.
Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.