Bloomberg and Victor Zhong
Mainland-based electric vehicle maker Leapmotor is considering an initial public offering in Hong Kong that could raise at least US$1 billion (HK$7.78 billion).
The firm, whose backers include video surveillance company Zhejiang Dahua Technology, has held initial discussions with advisers about an IPO, and word is that a listing could come as soon as next year.
Leapmotor makes electric vehicles using chips and core technology designed in-house.
In September it received 8,754 pre-orders, while it delivered 4,095 vehicles - a five-fold jump from the corresponding period last year.
The previous month saw the company announcing a 4.5-billion-yuan (HK$5.43 billion) investment round, of which 3 billion yuan was contributed by a unit of the Hangzhou government.
Leapmotor was founded in 2015 by its present chairman, Zhu Jiangming, and Dahua chairman Fu Liquan.
Also moving forward with a reshaping is Hyphen Group, a financial technology firm backed by Richard Li Tzar-kai.
Hyphen is said to be in advanced talks about a merger with blank-check company Provident Acquisition and then going public.
In other listing action, Chinese biotech company Abbisko Cayman priced its initial public offering at HK$12.4 apiece, the top end of the indicative price range with the aim of raising net proceeds close to HK$1.61 billion.
Leapmotor uses in-house technology . SING TAO
