Shuangdeng makes stunning trading debut as EVs, battery makers spur Hong Kong’s IPO boom

Shares of Shuangdeng Group, one of China’s largest makers of batteries and energy-storage systems, soared in their Hong Kong trading debut on Tuesday, as the city’s buoyant initial public offering (IPO) market continues to mint successful listings, especially for companies in the electric-vehicle boom.

Trading under the stock sign 6960, Shuangdeng first changed hands at HK$22.50, a premium of 55 per cent to its offer price of HK$14.51 per share. It traded as high as HK$23.18 before retreating to HK$19.05 at the close – still 31 per cent higher than the offer price – valuing the company at HK$7.94 billion (US$1 billion), according to Bloomberg data.

“We are lucky to be riding two tremendous waves amid these turbulent times: the first is the wave of artificial intelligence, and the second is the goal of expanding overseas,” said Shuangdeng’s chairman Yang Rui, before striking a ceremonial gong to mark the start of trading. “We will leverage our first-mover advantage in manufacturing and make use of the demand in Southeast Asia and the Middle East regions to build a globally competitive business.”

The company sold 58.56 million shares, raising about HK$849.66 million from the deal. About 90 per cent was allocated to international investors and the remainder was offered to Hong Kong retail buyers.

The public tranche was nearly 3,900 times oversubscribed, while the international tranche drew demand of about 18.75 times the available shares.