IPO drama as Dexin delays, then presses on with debut

Mainland property manager Dexin Services (2215) caused a major flutter ahead of its listing in Hong Kong today.

In a move rarely seen in Hong Kong, the spin-off of developer Dexin China (2019) said yesterday morning that it would delay its listing as it needs additional time to "obtain clearance from the regulators."

But four hours later, it announced the final pricing and allotment results of the initial public offering, saying "there has been no change in the expected listing timetable," without further explanation.

Mainland media reported yesterday morning that the delay was due to "technical issues" and not related to its fundamentals.

A representative of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (0388) said it does not comment on individual companies, and Dexin Services also did not respond to The Standard's request for comment.

Dexin Services raised HK$697.4 million after pricing its IPO at HK$3.06, above the midpoint of the indicative price range. The retail portion of the public sale was oversubscribed 2.08 times.

The sole sponsor of the deal is CCB International.

After the u-turn, Dexin Services closed 3 percent lower than its offer price in the gray markets. Futu Securities did not provide pre-IPO trading services for the stock.

In comparison, the other two debutants saw double-digit growth, signaling a strong start.

Online physician platform Medlive Technology (2192) was trading 10 percent higher ahead of debut in Futu's platform.

The Tencent (0700)-backed company priced its float at HK$27.20, the top end of the targeted price range, which means it raised about HK$4 billion from the IPO. Medlive attracted more than 626,000 retail investors; the retail portion of the deal was oversubscribed by 591 times.

A total of seven cornerstone investors have agreed to buy HK$1.71 billion Medlive's shares, including Tencent, Singapore's wealth fund GIC, Fidelity Management & Research, FIL Investment Management, Matthews Funds, Qiming Venture Partners and OrbiMed Funds.

Meanwhile, mainland luxury car dealer BetterLife (6909) jumped around 30 percent in the gray markets.

The Beijing-based company raised HK$627.4 million after pricing its IPO at HK$4.4 apiece, the mid-point of the marketed price range. The retail tranche of the deal was covered by 43 times.