Bottom line: CICC’s IPO will price and debut weakly due to uncertainty about its prospects following recent management turmoil, though the stock could do well over the longer term if its new executive team performs well.
Investor unimpressed by CICC offering
Chinese investment bank CICC is quickly discovering just how much its fortunes have faded, with word the former financial superstar has scaled back its Hong Kong IPO by 20 percent due to lack of investor interest. Just a month or two ago CICC might have been able to blame the lukewarm sentiment on the broader market, as a massive sell-off on China’s A-share markets infected Hong Kong. But strong recent demand for 2 major new listings in Hong Kong shows positive sentiment is returning, and that CICC is being left out of the rebound.
IPOs by Chinese companies have come creaking back to life in Hong Kong lately, led by last week’s strong debut for IMAX China (HKEx: 1970), the Chinese unit of Canadian big-screen theater technology company IMAX (NYSE: IMAX). Since debuting last week, IMAX China shares have risen by a third on big hopes for rapid expansion in China’s theater market. Last week, the stodgier China RE insurance company also priced shares for its upcoming $2 billion Hong Kong IPO at the top of their range, after getting strong demand. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: CICC’s IPO later this year will attract lukewarm investor interest due to its fading prospects, forcing it to scale back its plan to raise up to $1 billion.
CICC to get lukewarm reception in HK
A new story on homegrown investment bank CICC is casting a spotlight on the kind of interesting but also somewhat uninspiring Chinese companies that are likely to make offshore IPOs this year, after last year’s bumper crop of offerings that included a far more exciting field of candidates. Yesterday I wrote about Legend Holdings, parent of PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992), which wants to raise $2-$3 billion through a listing in Hong Kong. Like Legend, China International Capital Corp (CICC) is a company that’s unlikely to excite investors but could still draw a some interest as a decidedly second-tier player. Read Full Post…
What previously looked like an exciting Hong Kong IPO by CICC, China’s earliest homegrown investment bank, is rapidly losing its luster, with word that the company’s Chairman Jin Liqun is leaving the company. His departure, which was first rumored earlier this month, comes just a week after Levin Zhu, CEO of the company formally known as China International Capital Corp, also resigned to reportedly pursue a start-up in the hot area of Internet finance. Read Full Post…
Two high-profile executive moves are highlighting the recent attraction of China’s tech story to both domestic Chinese and foreigners, lured by breakneck growth that produced the world’s biggest-ever IPO last month with the $24 billion IPO of e-commerce leader Alibaba (NYSE: BABA). The first move has seen former Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) executive Jai Mani leave his position in a California-based start-up to take an India-based job at fast-rising Chinese smartphone sensation Xiaomi. The other has seen well-known Chinese financier Levin Zhu jump ship from the top post at CICC, China’s oldest investment bank, reportedly to start his own company involved with Internet-based finance. Read Full Post…
I’m calling today “IPO Tuesday” because there are quite a few interesting news bits involving Chinese listing plans, led by an unexpected report that Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) is eying Singapore for a listing for its popular WeChat mobile messaging service. That same report cites a source saying that Tencent itself eventually aims to complement its existing Hong Kong listing with a dual listing in New York — another unexpected twist for one of China’s most dynamic Internet companies. Meantime, China’s largest investment bank CICC is also making headlines with word of a listing plan, as Internet company 500wan.com moves ahead with its own New York IPO. Read Full Post…
