World’s largest pig breeder Muyuan up 3.9% in Hong Kong debut; Han’s CNC jumps nearly 15%

[SINGAPORE/HONG KONG] The shares of China’s Muyuan Foods closed slightly higher in their Hong Kong trading debut on Friday (Feb 6), after the world’s biggest pig breeder raised HK$10.7 billion (S$1.7 billion) in a share sale that is the city’s largest so far this year.

The firm’s shares opened at HK$39 each, matching their offer price, and closed 3.9 per cent higher at HK$40.52. They were trading at between HK$38.98 and HK$41.72, with 40.6 million shares worth HK$1.6 billion changing hands.

The share sale is the largest in Hong Kong since Zijin Gold International’s US$3.5 billion listing in September. The benchmark Hang Seng Index finished 1.2 per cent lower.

Dickie Wong, executive director of research at uSMART Securities, said: “I expect the first-day gain to be limited, probably flat to low single digits.

“Fundamentally, it’s still the clear industry leader with a huge scale advantage, but 2025 pork prices were weak and profit is expected to drop, so near-term earnings are under some pressure.”

Based on its prospectus, Muyuan traces its origins to a single pig farm launched in the mid-1990s. It was established as a company in 2000.

It has ranked first globally in hog farming by production capacity and hog sales volume for four consecutive years since 2021, the prospectus said, citing consultancy Frost & Sullivan.

For the nine months ended September, its revenue rose 15.5 per cent to 111.8 billion yuan (S$20.5 billion). The company expects its 2025 profit to fall by between 12.2 and 17.8 per cent from the year before, as the declines in hog prices squeezed margins.

Its proceeds will be used to invest in research and development in areas including breeding, smart farming, nutrition management and biosecurity.

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Cornerstone investors, led by Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Foods and Singapore’s Wilmar International, will buy about US$685 million worth of shares, or around half the transaction.

Morgan Stanley, Citic Securities and Goldman Sachs are the deal’s joint sponsors.

Han’s CNC riding on AI boom

On Friday, Shenzhen Han’s CNC Technology, a maker of printed circuit board equipment, opened 10.6 per cent higher at HK$106, better than its HK$95.80 offer price.

It ended 14.8 per cent higher at HK$110 after moving in a range between HK$105.10 and HK$116, with 13.1 million shares worth HK$1.5 billion changing hands.

It raised HK$4.8 billion from the share sale. China International Capital Corporation was the sole sponsor.

“Han’s CNC is a pure-play PCB equipment stock, riding strong demand from artificial intelligence servers and advanced boards,” said Wong.

He added that the growth momentum is solid and the shares may trade 10 to 20 per cent above their offer price, but cautioned that valuations are high and equipment stocks are inherently cyclical.

Muyuan and Han’s CNC are part of a wave of deals that has given the Hong Kong market its strongest start to a year in five years, with initial public offerings and secondary listings raising about US$5.5 billion in January, the best since US$7.6 billion was raised in January 2021, based on London Stock Exchange Group data.

Upcoming debuts include Chinese chipmakers Montage Technology and Axera Semiconductor, as well as industrial automation equipment maker Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment.

Swiss agricultural technology firm Syngenta Group is also targeting a Hong Kong listing that could raise as much as US$10 billion, it was reported on Thursday, citing sources. REUTERS