Quick to react
Strong cross-border capabilities and a deep understanding of regulatory changes allowed CICC to stand out in 2023, navigating a year with major policy shifts.
In the first half alone, CICC led three jumbo deals which raised a combined US$8.7bn. The country’s oldest investment bank was a joint sponsor on the Rmb45bn (US$6.3bn) A-share private placement of Postal Savings Bank of China, a sole sponsor and sole bookrunner on the Rmb9.96bn Star IPO of wafer foundry maker Nexchip Semiconductor and a joint sponsor on the Rmb6.9bn Star IPO of CSI Solar, a supplier of photovoltaic modules.
However, in August Chinese regulators said they would slow the pace of IPOs and follow-on offerings as part of a package to boost the country’s flagging stock market.
After that, IPO approvals were slow and offering sizes much smaller.
Drawing on the bank’s cross-border presence and wide capabilities, CICC bankers reacted quickly by advising clients about listing on other exchanges, and focused on products that were still supported by the Chinese government such as real estate investment trusts. In October, CICC Shandong Hi-Speed Expressway Closed Infrastructure Securities Investment Fund raised Rmb2.99bn from a REIT IPO.
CICC advised smaller companies from sectors backed by government policies, such as advanced manufacturing, to switch their listings from the Star board and ChiNext to the Beijing Stock Exchange, where business carried on as usual.
CICC, as sole sponsor, in October helped software service provider Beijing Paratera Tech raise Rmb334m from a BSE IPO.
CICC also suggested some clients should instead list in Hong Kong, a market where it was the most active player and sponsored 21 IPOs, way ahead of its competitors.
Unmatched relationships with Chinese corporates allow CICC to bring in a different type of demand when global institutional investors go quiet. For instance, it introduced Leapmotor, Gotion High-tech and Shanghai Zizhu High-Tech Zone as cornerstone investors for the HK$1.3bn float of Tencent-backed car repair service provider Tuhu Car.
CICC’s deep understanding of China’s regulatory filing process also enabled it to help Jakarta-based international courier company J&T Global Express complete its HK$3.9bn Hong Kong IPO registration with the China Securities Regulatory Commission in just 79 days.
That was the regulator’s first approval for a Hong Kong IPO with a variable interest entity structure since it started vetting overseas listing plans on March 31.
CICC’s presence in the US kept the bank busy when the domestic market turned quieter. The bank, as joint bookrunner, sold a US$1bn convertible bond for NYSE-listed electric vehicle maker Nio in September and sealed a US$62m NYSE IPO for procurement marketplace ZKH Group in December.
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