12 firms seek $21b in last-minute flurry

Twelve firms applied for initial public offerings in Hong Kong before the half-year ended, looking to raise more than HK$21.84 billion in total.

Among them, Black Sesame International, a developer of artificial intelligence chips and systems for cars, became the first firm to file for a listing under the new rules for specialist technology companies which came into effect on March 31.

Black Sesame was said to be aiming to raise as much as US$300 million (HK$2.34 billion) for the listing.

RoboSense, a Chinese developer of sensor technologies used in self-driving cars, also submitted an application last Friday. It was considering an IPO that could raise US$1 billion, according to reports in late 2021.

Another notable company is LianLian DigiTech, a rival to Alibaba (9988) financial affiliate Ant Group, which is reportedly looking to raise US$500 million.

Separately, Chinese mobile fitness application Keep, retail operator Star Plus Legend, and property management service provider Zhong An Intelligent Living Service saw their retail tranches of the respective IPOs undersubscribed as of yesterday. They all kicked off their retail books on Friday.