Hong Kong welcomed four new listings on Thursday, including two leading Chinese autonomous driving companies WeRide and Pony.ai, marking another busy day for debuts on the bourse, as a year-long bull run shows no signs of slowing in the world’s top destination for initial public offerings (IPOs).
Shares of Ningbo Joyson Electronic, a major automotive supplier, first changed hands at HK$29.83, jumping 35 per cent from its offer price of HK$22. Shares of Vigonvita Life Sciences, a biotech company, surged 184 per cent to HK$95 from its offer price of HK$33.37.
Shares of Pony.ai swapped hands at HK$124, down 11 per cent from its offer price of HK$139. Shares of WeRide began trading at HK$24.98, down 7.8 per cent from its offer price of HK$27.10.
Among the four, Pony.ai and WeRide – two of China’s leading autonomous driving champions – stole the spotlight, as the country’s level 4 robotaxi push seeks global capital market validation.
Pony.ai – which is already listed on Nasdaq – raised HK$6.71 billion (US$863 million) after exercising its offer option in full.
It allocated 48.25 million shares under its global offering, with 8.7 per cent sold to Hong Kong retail investors and the remaining 91.3 per cent to institutional investors. The public tranche drew 37,062 applications and was about 15.9 times subscribed. Its cornerstone investors include Eastspring, Ghisallo, Athos, Hel Ved and Ocean Arete.
