China's REPT Battero shares rise 5% in Hong Kong trading debut (updated)

REPT BATTERO Energy

18/12/2023 01:49

(Adds deal details from second paragraph)
    By Scott Murdoch and Donny Kwok
       SYDNEY, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Shares of Chinese lithium ion
battery maker REPT Battero Energy  0666.HK  rose 5% in early
trading after the company's debut on the Hong Kong Stock
Exchange on Monday.
    The Tsingshan Group-backed firm raised HK$2.12 billion 
($271.71 million) from selling 116.1 million shares in its
initial public offering (IPO).
    The final price of HK$18.30 per share was set at the low end
of the range of HK$18.20 to HK$20.60 when the deal launched last
week. REPT shares opened at HK$18.60 and rose as high as
HK$19.22.
    Hong Kong's broader Hang Seng Index  .HSI  was down 0.9%
early on Monday.
    REPT was the latest in a string of Hong Kong IPOs to price
at the lower end of the band because of weak investor demand.
    Institutional demand was 1.27 times the number of shares on
offer to investors in the IPO, according to REPT's regulatory
filings, while retail demand was 1.21 times. 
    Demand at those levels is considered poor compared to the
peak of Hong Kong's IPO boom in 2021 when some deals were
thousands of times oversubscribed.
    Higher-for-longer interest rates and ongoing global
geopolitical tensions have pushed Hong Kong IPO volumes in 2023
to the lowest point in at least 20 years, according to LSEG
data.

 (Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney and Donny Kwok in Hong
Kong; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Jamie Freed)
 ((Scott.Murdoch@thomsonreuters.com;))