ECM Weekly (8 November 2020) - Ant, Sunac Svcs, Jinke Svcs, Antengene, Gland Pharma, Kalyan Jewel

Ant Group (6688 HK)'s IPO was primed for a strong debut until it got suspended by the Shanghai exchange for failing to meet the listing guidelines and issuing and listing disclosures. It all seemed to have started from a meeting with China's regulators (the four finance ministries) but Ming Lu pointed out that Jack Ma's Bund Summit speech on 24th of October might have been the spark that started it all. The regulatory hold-up is likely going to take a while to resolve and was reported that it will at least take another six months before it comes back to market.

• Ant Group (蚂蚁集团): Facing Hostile Authorities After Jack Ma's Speech

Even though large Hong Kong IPOs have been pulled before, such as Budweiser Brewing Company APAC (1876 HK) and ESR Cayman (1821 HK), those were done before bookbuild was completed. In Ant's case, the IPO was pulled after bookbuild which was a mess as Ant needed to return the money to investors in two batches.

• Ant Group IPO - Quick Note - Shanghai Suspends STAR Market Listing

However, Asia IPO market is still looking strong. Shinsun Holdings (2599 HK), Sunac Services Holdings (1820476D HK) and Jinke Smart Services (9666 HK) launched their respective IPO bookbuilds this week.

• Jinke Smart Services (金科智慧服务) IPO - More Palatable Valuation but Look Out for Pre-IPO Investors
• Sunac Services (融创服务) IPO - Better Towards the Low-End
• Shinsun Holdings (祥生控股) IPO - High Leverage Likely to Limit Growth

And next week, Remegen Ltd (1788976D CH) and New Oriental Education (EDU US) Hong Kong secondary debuts on Monday and both traded well in the gray market.

• RemeGen (荣昌生物) IPO Trading: First Not so Hot Biotech in the Stretch
• New Oriental Hong Kong Secondary Trading - Largest ADR/HK Listing Premium Yet

We also heard that Antengene (ANGENE HK) and China Resources Mixc Lifestyle Services (CRML HK) are looking to start/have already pre-marketed their IPO. JD Health (JDH HK) was said to be targeting listing approval soon.

• JD Health (京东健康) Pre-IPO - Well-Positioned to Ride China’s Healthcare Digitalization
• CR Mixc Lifestyle Services (华润万象生活) Pre-IPO - A Balance of Residential and Commercial Properties

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM also continued his coverage on upcoming Hong Kong biotech listings:

• HBM (和珀医药) Pre-IPO: Innovative Heavy Chain Platform to Be Tested

India ECM is finally looking active again. This week, Kalyan Jewellers (KALYAN IN) and Gland Pharma (7172753Z IN) are looking to raise US$250m and US$900m, respectively.

• Gland Pharma IPO - High on Growth but Low on Details
• Kalyan Jewellers Pre-IPO - Strategy Missteps Led to Earnings Flatlining

In the U.S, Yatsen Holding, a China cosmetic and skincare brand backed by Hillhouse, Sequoia China, and Tiger Global filed its prospectus with the SEC last week, looking to raise US$500m. We are hearing that the company is pre-marketing its IPO.

• Yatsen Pre-IPO - Growing Fast but Slowing Down