Chinese securities firm Shenwan Hongyuan Group Co Ltd opened flat in its Hong Kong trading debut on Friday, after raising $1.16 billion in Asia’s biggest listing so far this year.
Shares in Shenwan Hongyuan opened at HK$3.63 ($0.4627), the same as its offering price, briefly hitting a high of HK$3.64 and a low of HK$3.62. They were last trading at HK$3.49.
Shenwan Hongyuan, which is also listed in Shenzhen, raised $1.16 billion when it sold 2.5 billion shares at the bottom of an indicative range of HK$3.63 to HK$3.93.
Markets have rallied this year, with Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index up 12.5 percent so far after a dismal 2018.
In terms of stock market listings, Hong Kong had a stellar 2018, with companies raising $36.3 billion in the city – the most of any stock exchange globally.
This year, however, is likely to be slower as the stream of companies in China looking to go public thins.
Companies have raised $4.1 billion in initial public offerings in Hong Kong so far in 2019, compared with $7.7 billion raised on the Nasdaq in New York, Refinitiv data showed.
Shenwan Hongyuan secured 13 cornerstones for its share offering, including ICBC Asset Management Scheme Nominee, Huaxia Life Insurance, China Life Insurance, China Reinsurance Corp and New China Life Insurance, which together bought 71 percent of the shares on offer, the offering prospectus showed.
Shenwan Hongyuan plans to use the proceeds to develop its enterprise finance business for merger-and-acquisition clients, provide a one-stop investment banking service for enterprise clients, and develop its personal finance business for wealth management needs, its prospectus showed.
ABC International, Goldman Sachs, ICBC and a unit of Shenwan Hongyuan were joint sponsors for the Hong Kong float.
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Securities firm Shenwan Hongyuan raises $1.16b in HK IPO
Reuters