Top 15 Hong Kong IPOs to keep an eye on in 2022, as the city tries to put a difficult year behind it
- Hong Kong’s main board dropped to third place last year from second in 2020 in international rankings
- More than 70 per cent of firms that listed in the city in 2021 saw their stock prices trade below issue prices towards the end of the year
After a strong first half, initial public offering (IPO) activity in Hong Kong – the top IPO market globally in seven of the past 13 years – slowed down for the rest of 2021.
Ongoing geopolitical issues, regulatory changes affecting several industries in mainland China and speculation around interest rate hikes and reduced bond purchases have all taken a toll on the market.
While Chinese AI champion SenseTime surprised investors with an outperformance, 96 IPOs or more than 70 per cent of Hong Kong debutants in 2021 saw their stock prices trade below their issue prices towards the end of the year.
In 2022, analysts expect the Hong Kong IPO market to be less frenzied and more balanced, as geopolitical issues and China’s tightening grip on technology and property companies continue to be of concern.
A new listing regime for overseas issuers should boost dual-primary and secondary IPOs by US-listed China concept stocks, while the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) regime should draw some listings by de-SPAC targets, Deloitte China said. It expected about 120 new listings in Hong Kong to raise about HK$330 billion (US$42.3 billion) in 2022. Among these are candidates that delayed their IPOs because of uncertain market sentiment in 2021.
Here are 15 potential IPOs to keep an eye out for: