5 Chinese firms seek Hong Kong IPOs, joining fundraising flurry

Five mainland companies have filed preliminary listing applications with the Hong Kong stock exchange to raise capital, joining the flurry of Chinese start-ups that have pushed the city to the top of the global rankings for initial public offerings (IPOs).

The pack was led by Shenzhen-listed Muyuan Foods, one of the world’s largest hog breeders and pork producers, which could raise up to US$1 billion through a secondary listing. The firm has named Morgan Stanley, CLSA and Goldman Sachs as the overall coordinators of its proposed stock sale to help fund its global expansion.

BASiC Semiconductor, FS.com, Shanghai Seer and Worldwide Logistics also applied to raise capital, according to their statements on Wednesday, without disclosing the size or the timing of their sales. The filings, known as A1 forms, marked the first step in the listing process. None of the applications have received regulatory approval.

Shanghai Seer makes industrial robots and autonomous forklifts. It picked China International Capital Corporation as its overall coordinator. Worldwide Logistics, a freight forwarder based in Shanghai, named CLSA and CMB International as its overall coordinators.

An undated photo of automated forklifts produced by Shanghai Seer. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong’s IPO fundraising has grown sevenfold to HK$76 billion (US$9.7 billion) so far this year from a year earlier. The city topped the global IPO league table in seven of the previous 15 years. Proceeds from new listings in the first five months have amounted to nearly 90 per cent of last year’s level, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po wrote in a blog post on Sunday.

South China Morning Post