Hong Kong top destination for Chinese IPOs, but new Shanghai tech board poses threat, Baker McKenzie says
- Chinese companies expected to raise US$6.8 billion in Hong Kong in first half, says law firm
- New Shanghai technology board could be a challenger for Chinese tech unicorns
Hong Kong is the top destination for Chinese companies seeking to list their shares outside China so far this year, but could face a challenge for initial public offerings from Shanghai’s new technology innovation board, according to a new report by the law firm Baker McKenzie.
Thirty-four Chinese companies have raised or are expected to raise more than US$6.8 billion in IPOs in Hong Kong in the first six months of 2019, including new listings by the drug maker Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group and vocational training company China East Education Holdings this month.
“Hong Kong may begin to experience disruption as China’s [Sci-Tech] Innovation Board launches and encourages Chinese companies to list domestically in Shanghai,” the law firm said. “Indeed, there has already been some fallout from this as several companies have cancelled their [Hong Kong] applications to instead resubmit to list domestically through the innovation board.”
Six firms have already been approved to list their shares on the board, including Shenzhen ChipScreen Biosciences and Anji Microelectronics (Shanghai).