China’s Tuhu to raise up to US$161 million in Hong Kong IPO starting Thursday
CHINESE car maintenance service start-up Tuhu Car says it will price its shares in an indicative range of HK$28 to HK$31 (S$4.87-US$5.39) each as it aims to raise up to US$161 million in its Hong Kong initial public offering opening on Thursday (Sep 14).
There would be 40.62 million primary shares sold in the IPO, according to a company presentation slide shown at a press conference in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
There is an overallotment and adjustment options as part of the deal which could take the total offering up to 53.71 million shares.
Bookbuilding will start on Thursday and the final price is due to be set on Sep 19. The stock is set to start trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Sep 26, a presentation slide showed.
Investors including Tencent, Chinese battery maker Gotion High-Tech and Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology, among others, have become cornerstone investors in the IPO, according to the slide.
Tuhu, which is backed by Tencent, Carlyle Group and Sequoia China, has been considering a listing for more than two years and initially planned a US share sale.
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The firm had considered a US IPO of up to US$400 million as early as February 2021, Reuters reported at the time. That was before the rush of Chinese companies wanting to list in New York was frozen following ride-hailing giant Didi Global going ahead with its US$4.4 billion IPO against the Chinese regulator’s will.
Hong Kong’s IPO market remains in the doldrums with US$2.5 billion raised so far in 2023, according to Dealogic, putting it on track to record one of its poorest performances in years. There was US$8.5 billion raised in 2022, the data showed, compared with US$28 billion the year before.
Tuhu was founded 12 years ago in Shanghai and provides car repair and maintenance services via an online-to-offline business model.
Its app links customers with more than 4,700 car repair centres and 19,000 partner centres across China, according to its preliminary filings to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Tuhu said it had 17.1 million transacting users in the year ended March 2023, which was up 9.9 per cent on the same time last year, the filings said. REUTERS
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