Apple supplier Lens Technology joins Hong Kong IPO boom with US$608 million deal
Hong Kong's
initial public offering (IPO) boom continued on Monday as seven companies, including Apple supplier Lens Technology and chip designer Fortior, filed fresh listing applications, injecting renewed optimism into the
buoyant market
Precision manufacturer Lens Technology said it would raise as much as HK$4.77 billion (US$608 million) from its debut in the city, according to its stock exchange filing on Monday. The Shenzhen-listed firm is offering 262.3 million shares at HK$17.38 to HK$18.18 each.
Lens Technology planned to allocate 11 per cent of the base offering to Hong Kong investors, with the remainder going to international investors. If the offer size adjustment and overallotment options were exercised, the IPO gross proceeds could swell to HK$6.3 billion at the top end of the price range.
Investors can place orders from Monday to July 4, and trading was set to begin on July 9 under the stock code 6613, according to the company's proposed timetable. The company's Shenzhen-listed shares fell 0.3 per cent to 22 yuan (US$3.07) in recent trading.
The offering drew cornerstone investors including Green Better, Olympic Country, UBS Asset Management Singapore and Oaktree Capital. They agreed to subscribe for about US$280 million worth of the IPO shares. Citic Securities is the sole IPO sponsor.
Founded in 1993 in Shenzhen by chairwoman Chau Kwan Fei, Lens Technology is headquartered in Liuyang in China's central Hunan province, according to its website. Chau was expected to control 59.03 per cent of the company after the listing, according to the prospectus.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
29 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Billions misused in China 2024 stimulus, from flood controls to gym equipment, audit finds
China's top audit watchdog has revealed that tens of billions of yuan in funding were misused by localities amid a roll-out of stimulus measures and flagship projects that the nation adopted last year, as Beijing injected trillions to boost China's economy. The revelation – resulting from an assessment of the central government's budget execution last year, as well as of other fiscal revenues and expenditures in 2024 – was spelled out in a report submitted by National Audit Office auditor general Hou Kai to the top legislature last week. For the country's key stimulus package, featuring subsidies for large-scale equipment renewals and consumer goods trade-ins, nearly 20 billion yuan (US$2.8 billion) was fraudulently claimed or misappropriated, according to the disclosed data report. This includes nearly 3.8 billion yuan that was fraudulently claimed under the programme last year. For example, Xiamen University applied and got approval for 1.7 million yuan for new treadmills and barbells for its gymnasium in the name of 'advanced teaching and tech equipment'. Meanwhile, more than 15 billion yuan was misused during implementation, the report said, with four provinces using 7.06 billion yuan to cover basic public spending – from civil-service wages to essential social welfare – or other unrelated projects, and six provinces falsely recording 8.3 billion yuan as spent. Some enterprises were also involved in subsidy fraud, it added. The funding came from 1 trillion yuan worth of ultra-long-term special government bonds that Beijing issued in 2024, with 700 billion yuan allocated for equipment upgrades and 300 billion yuan for trade-in consumption.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Top OpenAI talent from China joins Meta as Zuckerberg bolsters AI team in tech battle
The expertise of Chinese researchers in artificial intelligence (AI) is in the spotlight, as US tech giant Meta Platforms has recruited four leading scientists from OpenAI to enhance its competitive edge in the global AI race. Meta's hiring of Zhao Shengjia, Ren Hongyu, Yu Jiahui and Bi Shuchao, reported by US tech news outlet The Information, was partially confirmed by Alexandr Wang, head of Meta's AI unit and former CEO of Scale AI, in a social media post over the weekend. Wang expressed enthusiasm for collaborating with the four researchers 'towards superintelligence'. Meta and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. As of Monday, the researchers had kept their OpenAI titles in their social media profiles. The recruitment, also reported by Bloomberg News, comes as Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg invests billions of dollars to attract top talent. Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI. Photo: Reuters According to OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman, Meta has offered bonuses of up to US$100 million to entice engineers to switch companies. Earlier this month, Meta acquired a 49 per cent stake in Scale AI for US$14.2 billion to bring Wang on board. The hiring highlights the depth of Chinese talent at leading American AI firms. All four researchers share a similar academic trajectory, having completed their undergraduate education at prestigious Chinese universities before pursuing further studies in the US, according to their LinkedIn profiles and social media accounts.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong primary school closure leaves 200 parents at risk of losing debentures
A private primary school in Hong Kong, which offers an international curriculum, has unexpectedly announced its closure at the end of July. This decision has left some parents concerned about whether they will receive the return of their debenture, valued at approximately HK$200,000 (US$25,500), as promised. A check by the South China Morning Post on Saturday found that the website of Think International School, founded in 2003, was no longer online. In an email sent to parents earlier this week and seen by the South China Morning Post, the private school on Boundary Street in Kowloon Tong said it would close down on July 31. It also conceded that it would not be able to pay back parents who were holding debentures in the near future. 'Since closing a school will involve a lot of unexpected expenses, we are not sure about the financial commitments involved in the coming months,' the email said. A parent who paid a HK$200,000 debenture, due to mature next Monday, was offered a cheque for HK$204,000 that would be available for collection on the day but could only be cashed on January 8 next year. 'The school obviously knew in advance it would close, but chose to hold that information until a few days before the debentures were due,' the parent told the South China Morning Post. Hong Kong primary schools to add more national security to English lessons 'By not giving parents their money back, they are skirting their obligation and responsibility. There is no guarantee that the cheque they want to issue for January 2026 will be honoured.' The Education Bureau said on Friday evening that it had not received any notice from Think International School regarding its decision to shut down but had contacted the institution to understand the situation. 'The bureau has asked the school to inform parents and authorities as soon as possible if there are any changes in its operations,' a spokesman said. 'The bureau has also urged the school to maintain sufficient communications with its stakeholders and return the debenture and related funds as soon as possible and ensure that [their] students' education is not affected.' It added that it would maintain close contact with the school and offer help to parents and students where needed. Authorities said they had only received the notice from the Mei Foo branch of Think International Kindergarten regarding its closure in April this year. A staff member of Think International School hung up the phone after the Post inquired on Friday about the institution's closure. Think International School, a private institution in Kowloon Tong, has said it will not be able to pay back parents who are holding debentures 'in the coming months'. Photo: Dickson Lee The number of pupils affected was not immediately clear. Think International School, which offers the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme, charges pupils in classes up to Year Three an annual tuition fee of HK$126,000, and students in Year Four to Year Six HK$133,000, divided into 10 instalments per year. Hong Kong's school sector has experienced a significant loss in its student population in recent years, amid a low birth rate and an emigration wave, with Western countries such as Britain, Canada and Australia offering pathways to citizenship for Hongkongers in response to the Beijing-imposed national security law in 2020. In 2023, Tak Nga Primary School, a 63-year-old private school in Kowloon Tong, said it would wind up gradually by halting primary classes in the 2024-25 academic year before fully closing in 2028. It attributed its decision to the recent emigration wave and Hong Kong's falling birth rate.
