Three firms seek $1.1b in last-minute IPO dash

Three companies including Chinese self-driving firm iMotion Automotive Technology (Suzhou) are making a last-minute dash to list in Hong Kong before the end of the year, seeking a combined HK$1.18 billion.

iMotion is looking to raise HK$655.7 million by selling 22.11 million shares at HK$29.65 per share. The minimum investment is HK$2,994.9

Founded in 2016, the Suzhou-based firm focuses on developing domain controllers, which serve as the "brain" in autonomous driving solutions, processing data from sensors to make driving decisions and trigger actuators in the vehicles.

Chemicals supplier Henan Jinyuan is looking to raise up to HK$358.4 million by selling 238.9 million shares at a price range of $HK1.10 to HK$1.50 each.

And cross-border logistics service provider Far International aims to raise up to HK$171 million by offering 140 million shares at between HK$0.9 and HK$1.22.

Meanwhile, Changxin Memory Technologies is delaying a domestic IPO and will instead consider raising funds at about a 140 billion yuan (HK$154 billion) valuation, becoming the latest Chinese company to call off a debut because of volatile market conditions.

Changxin had completed a shareholder restructuring around the middle of 2023 to prepare for the potential listing, but it decided to await a more favorable market after communications with regulators and prospective investors, sources said.

Elsewhere, fast fashion firm Shein has held talks with the London Stock Exchange about the possibility of a public listing in the United Kingdom, Sky News reported.

Shein's chairman, Donald Tang, met executives from the LSE and other stakeholders in the UK economy during a visit to London last week, according to the report. But the report added A US listing remains the likeliest outcome for Shein, which had confidentially filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission earlier.

In yesterday's trading, Chinese edible bird's nest producer Xiamen Yan Palace Bird's Nest Industry (1497) closed flat after rising as much as 10.3 percent in its debut.

Separately, online brokerage Futu Securities said yesterday that it remains to be seen whether gray market hours should be adjusted after using the new fast interface for new issuance or FINI digital platform.

Retail investors will not be able to know the market response to IPOs such as oversubscription data during current gray market hours as the cut-off time for the announcement of IPO allotment results is 11pm under the new system.