Shares In Chinese AI Chipmaker Biren Soar On HK Debut
Shares in Chinese AI chipmaker Biren Technology closed 75.8 percent higher following their debut in Hong Kong on Friday, amid expectations of another strong year for IPOs in the city.
The company, founded by veterans of AI facial recognition company SenseTime and Huawei, priced its shares at the top end of the marketed range after demand from institutional investors reached nearly 26 times the number of shares on offer, while the retail tranche was oversubscribed by about 2,348 times, the company said in a 31 December filing.
Tech interest
Shares in the US-blacklisted company, priced at HK$19.60 ($2.52, £1.87), rose as high as HK$42.88 during the day before closing at HK$34.46.
The company raised HK$5.58 billion at the shares’ initial price, but as of its Friday close was valued at more than $10bn.
Hong Kong financial secretary Paul Chan and Hong Kong Exchange chief Bonnie Chan took part in the launch ceremony, in a sign of government efforts to boost the city’s status as a financial centre.
Biren’s prospectus said it plans to spend about 85 percent of the listing proceeds on research and development.
Hong Kong saw strong interest in Chinese tech shares last year, benefiting from the worldwide splash made in January by mainland China AI start-up DeepSeek, among other factors.
AI IPOs
Zhipu AI, also known as Z.ai, and MiniMax, two Chinese developers of AI models, are set to begin trading on 8 and 9 January.
Baidu said in a statement last Thursday that it plans to spin off its AI chip unit Kunlunxin and had confidentially filed for a Hong Kong listing.
