Hong Kong IPO boost: Chinese firms Mobvoi, HighTide plan to raise up to US$500 million amid sluggish year
- Listings could boost the city’s fundraising, which is off to a sluggish start in 2023, down 52 per cent year on year in the first quarter
- AI and electronics maker Mobvoi aims to raise up to US$300 million, while pharmaceutical company HighTide targets up to US$200 million
Biopharmaceutical manufacturer HighTide Therapeutics and artificial-intelligence and electronics company Mobvoi are planning Hong Kong share listings that could boost the city’s initial public offering (IPO) fundraising total for the year by up to US$500 million.
Mobvoi, a Beijing-based company that develops artificial-intelligence (AI) technology and smart devices, aims to raise US$200 million to US$300 million in its offering, according to Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the deal. CICC and CMB International Capital are the deal’s joint sponsors.
The firm last month debuted its own AI large language model, and its software finds use in sectors including finance, telecommunications and senior care. Mobvoi drew the likes of Volkswagen AG as an investor and partner via a 2017 funding round, and also counts Sequoia and Zhenfund as early backers. Google, Goertek, Sequoia Capital and SIG Asia are among its shareholders.
Shenzhen-based HighTide Therapeutics has appointed UBS and Huatai Financial Holdings as the joint coordinators of its public offering, via which it intends to raise US$100 to US$200 million, according to a report in April by International Financing Review.
The company develops novel multifunctional therapies for metabolic and digestive diseases. It closed a US$107 million series C funding round in January, which was led by the TCM Healthcare Fund of Guangdong, managed by China Development Bank Capital. Other investors included Yuexiu Fund and Yuthai Fund.
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