Hong Kong has US$6 billion of IPOs on the way before year end

Hong Kong

INVESTORS mourning Ant Group's suspended mega-listing can take consolation in the otherwise rude health of Hong Kong's initial public offerings (IPOs).

Three companies won approvals from the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday for first-time share sales that could raise a combined US$6 billion, said people familiar with the matter.

Among them, JD Health International, the online health care unit of China's number two e-commerce giant JD.com, plans to start gauging investor demand for its US$3 billion IPO as soon as next week after getting the green light, the sources said.

These deals will provide a fillip to Hong Kong's IPO volumes after the shocking halt of Ant's offering, which left a US$17.2 billion hole in the city's potential share sales.

Some US$37 billion has been raised through first-time share sales so far this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Ant's suspension makes it an uphill battle to top 2010, the year that currently holds the record, when companies raised a combined US$57.8 billion.

ECM Watch Evergrande Property Services Group and Blue Moon Group Holdings are also looking to test the water for their IPOs as early as next week, said the sources, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.

The property management arm of real estate developer China Evergrande Group could raise about US$2 billion from the listing, the sources said. That could make it the largest offering by a property management company this year, surpassing Shimao Services Holdings' US$1.26 billion share sale.

Hillhouse Capital-backed Blue Moon, which makes laundry detergent, liquid soap and bathroom cleaners, could raise about US$1 billion in its IPO, the sources said.

Details of the offerings including size and timeline could still change, the sources said.

Representatives for Blue Moon and JD Health declined to comment, while a representative for Evergrande did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The pipeline of multi-billion dollar IPOs in Hong Kong is still growing.

Kuaishou Technology, a rival to ByteDance's Douyin in China, last week filed an application for a Hong Kong IPO, which could raise about US$5 billion as soon as the end of this year. ByteDance itself is also considering listing some of its assets in Hong Kong. BLOOMBERG