SenseTime launches Hong Kong IPO to raise up to US$767m: term sheet

[HONG KONG] Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup SenseTime Group is looking to raise up to US$767 million in its Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.

The deal launched on Monday (Dec 6) for the company to sell 1.5 billion primary shares within a price range of HK$3.85 to HK$3.99 each, the term sheet said.

8 cornerstone investors have signed up for the IPO and subscribed for US$450 million, or 58.6 per cent of the deal, ahead of its launch.

SenseTime declined to comment on the deal's launch.

SenseTime's shares are due to price on Friday (Dec 10) and start trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Dec 17.

The company plans to use the majority of the IPO funds for research and development of its main AI technologies, the term sheet said.

SenseTime provides technology-based applications, including facial recognition, video analysing and autonomous driving.

It had planned to raise up to US$2 billion in its Hong Kong IPO, Reuters reported previously, but scaled back the size of the deal before its launch.

SenseTime was among 8 Chinese tech companies placed on a US blacklist in 2019 amid trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.

The action bars the firms from buying components from US companies without US government approval.

The United States alleges the companies on the blacklist played a role in human rights abuses against Muslim minority groups in China.

SenseTime said at the time the ban was imposed it strongly opposed the US trade restrictions and would work with relevant authorities to resolve the situation.

The IPO is going ahead despite the blacklist which has prohibited US investment banks working on the deal.

Unusually for a deal of its size in Hong Kong, there is no major US bank working on the IPO, with HSBC Holdings the only major Western bank with a role as a joint sponsor.

REUTERS