Chinese Investment Bank AMTD Raises $174m In US IPO

Hong Kong-based financial services firm and investment bank AMTD International has raised $174 million in its initial public offering (IPO) in the US, according to its latest filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

AMTD, which claims to be one of the largest Hong Kong-based financial institutions, priced 20.6 million American depositary shares (ADSs) at $8.38 each. It will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol HKIB.

The company said it will use the proceeds of its IPO to invest in business and infrastructure expansion, fund potential acquisitions, and for general corporate purposes. The company’s expansion plans include setting up new subsidiaries, acquiring new talent, and applying for new business licences in other jurisdictions.

AMTD, which was founded in 2003, offers investment banking services, including equity underwriting, debt underwriting, advisory (on credit rating, financing, and mergers and acquisitions transactions), securities brokerage, institutional sales and distribution, and research, among others.

It booked $155 million in revenue for the 12 months ended March 31, 2019 and assets under management of $2.6 billion. It also posted net profit of $67 million in 2018. The company is 95.3 per cent owned and controlled by AMTD Group, which was founded by CK Hutchison Holding Limited.

According to a CIC report cited by the company, AMTD ranked first among all independent investment banking firms in Asia as measured by both the number and the aggregate offering size of Hong Kong and US IPOs completed in 2018 and the first quarter of 2019.

“We are one of the few financial institutions with extensive financial industry knowledge and experience across Greater China that is majority-owned and managed by local Hong Kong entrepreneurs and professionals,” the company said in its SEC filing.

This genuine “Hong Kong-owned” identity, according to AMTD, positions the firm to play an instrumental role in connecting local clients from Hong Kong and China with global capital markets.

AMTD International joined several Chinese companies that have filed to list in the US, even as China has been trying to woo firms to list domestically.

In July, Beijing-based online consumer lender 9F has filed to raise $150 million in an IPO in the US, partly to finance its expansion in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. DouYu International Holdings, a Chinese video-game live-streaming platform, is also seeking to raise as much as $944 million.

Early this month, I-Mab Biopharma Co, a Chinese drug developer, has filed confidentially for a US IPO as the company works on a private fundraising, according to people with knowledge of the matter.