Fintech firm Linklogis opens 9.9% higher in Hong Kong IPO debut (updated)

Linklogis

09/04/2021 03:23

(Updates with IPO details, analyst quote)
    By Scott Murdoch and Donny Kwok
    HONG KONG, April 9 (Reuters) - Shares of Chinese fintech
firm Linklogis Inc  9959.HK , which is backed by technology
giant Tencent Holdings  0700.HK , opened 9.9% higher in their
Hong Kong debut on Friday after the company raised $1.02 billion
in its initial public offering.
    The shares traded at HK$19.32 ($2.48), compared to the
$HK17.58 price in the IPO that sold 452.87 million shares.
    Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index  .HSI  was down 0.40% in early
trading on Friday while the Hang Seng Tech Index  .HSTECH  was
up 0.17%.
    Chinese fintech companies have come under greater scrutiny
from mainland regulators since a $37 billion IPO of Ant Group
was shelved in November.
    But Linklogis would not be affected much by that, some
analysts said.
    "I don't think regulation is as much of a worry as the
company mainly caters to institutions and isn't consumer
(retail) facing which is where the bulk of the regulatory
oversight has come in," said Sumeet Singh, Aequitas Research
director, who publishes on Smartkarma.
    Linklogis, which specialises in supply chain finance, priced
its shares at the mid point of the range of HK$16.28 to $HK18.28
flagged when the IPO launched on March 26.
    The retail portion of the IPO was oversubscribed 98.46 times
while the institutional tranche was covered 14.8 times,
according to the company.
    Linklogis is also part of a consortium that has been granted
a Singapore wholesale digital bank licence that is due to launch
in 2022.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2IG32A
($1 = 7.7780 Hong Kong dollars)

 (Reporting by Donny Kwok and Scott Murdoch; Editing by
Christian Schmollinger and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
 ((donny.kwok@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843 6470; Reuters
Messaging: donny.kwok.reuters.com@reuters.net))