Hong Kong IPO: GEM board welcomes its first small-firm listing in 3 years as UBoT soars 36% in trading debut
- Hong Kong-based firm’s shares rose as much as 36 per cent from its offer price on the first day of trading on Monday
- UBoT raised HK$68.75 million from its IPO, with the public tranche oversubscribed 2,500 times
UBoT Holding, the first new listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange’s secondary board in more than three years, surged on debut, with one analyst saying the listing bodes well for the market.
The semiconductor-component maker’s shares rose as much as 36 per cent from its offer price of HK$0.5, before ending the day 6 per cent higher at HK$0.53 on the GEM market, giving the company a market capitalisation of HK$265 million (US$33.9 million), according to exchange data. The broader Hang Seng Index jumped 1.8 per cent, the biggest advance since May 10.
The Hong Kong-headquartered firm raised HK$68.75 million via its initial public offering (IPO), with the public tranche oversubscribed 2,500 times.
UBoT is the first new listing after bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing introduced new rules in January to make it easier for companies to list on GEM and streamlined the process to transfer from GEM to the main board. The last GEM listing was in January 2021 when Grand Power Logistics Group raised HK$55.5 million.
The reforms were one of the firm’s “major considerations” to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange as “there is an opportunity for us to switch to the main board”, said Danny Tong Yuen-to, chairman of UBoT.
UBoT had considered listing on Nasdaq but decided to list in Hong Kong because of the city’s “sufficient capital, sophisticated investors and professional teams”, he added.