Hong Kong IPO Handbook 2024

InEnglish&Chinese 双语–中英文 HONGKONG 香IP港O首H次A公N开DB上O市O手K册22002244 LISTOFCONTRIBUTORS FOREWORD HONGKONGIPOHANDBOOK 2024 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,transmitted,storedinaretrievalsystem,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwisewithoutthepriorwrittenpermissionofthepublishers. AsianLegalBusiness,ThomsonReuters,theAsianLegalBusinesslogoandtheThomsonReuterslogoaretrademarksofThomsonReuters. ©2023ThomsonReuters Publishedby ThomsonReutersHongKongLimited15/F,14TaikooWanRoad,TaikooShing,HongKong Tel:+85228472088Fax:+85225206646 Email:ALBEditor@thomsonreuters.comwww.legalbusinessonline.com/asia SeniorDirector,Media&Events, Asia&EmergingMarkets–AmanthaChiaManagingEditor–RanajitDam RankingsandSpecialProjectsEditor–WangBingqing Traffic/CirculationManager–RozidahJambari PrintedinHongKongISBN978-988-8591-16-9 AboutAsianLegalBusiness AsianLegalBusiness(ALB)isownedbyThomsonReuters,theworld’sleadingsourceofintelligentinformationforbusinessesandprofessionals.Withitsportfolioofleadingtitles,onlineservices,rankings,lawawardsandin-houselegalsummits,ALBprovidesauthoritativeandunbiasedinsightsandunmatchednetworkingandbusinessdevelopmentopportunitiestolegalprofessionalsthroughouttheAsia-PacificandtheMiddleEastregions. ALBcombinesnewsandanalysisfromitsteamofprofessionallegaljournalistsandtheexpertopinionsofseniorindustryprofessionalswithReutersnewsandinsightsthatpowerbusinessacrosstheglobe. SalesManagers 张裕裕 YvonneCheungChinaKeyAccounts +8613143943617 赵树群 yvonne.cheung@tr.com StevenZhao ChinaKeyAccounts +8618610048891 杨绮繁 s.zhao@tr.com SteffiYang SouthandWestChina +8613683268390 qifan.yang@tr.com HiroshiKanekoSalesManagerJapan +81345201192 hiroshi.kaneko@tr.com JonathanYapIndonesia,Singapore +6591287945 jonathan.yap@tr.com KrupaDalalIndia,MiddleEast +912261897087 krupa.dalal@tr.com RomulusTham Malaysia,Philippines,Thailand&Vietnam +6569738248 romulus.tham@thomsonreuters.com FromtheteamhereatAsianLegalBusiness,IamdelightedtointroducetoyoutheALBHongKongIPOHandbook2024. Thisyear,thegrowthofHongKongIPOsandthefundsraisedhaveexperiencedaslowdownduetovariousfactors.Despitethis,theHongKongstockmarkethasdemonstratedresiliencecomparedtotheglobalmarket.Inthefirstthreequarters,therewere47newlistings,reflectinga16.1percentdecreasecomparedtothesameperiodlastyear.ThetotalfundsraisedamountedtoHK$24.6billion($3.15billion),markingasignificant67percentdecreasefromthepreviousyear.Whilenewlistingsfacedsluggishness,theaccumulationoflistingapplicationsremainedsteady,withover110companiesplanningtogopublicasofOctober. Incontrasttotheoverallmarket,non-profitablebiotechcompanieshaveshownagrowthtrend,surpassingthesameperiodlastyear.ThisunderscoresHongKong'sresilienceasafundraisinghubforbiotechcompanies.AsofSept.30,atotalof29informationtechnology,media,andtelecommunicationscompanies,aswellas20healthcareandbiotechcompanies,haveappliedforlistinginHongKong,includingninenon-profitablebiotechcompanies. ToupholdHongKong'sstatusasamajorinternationalfinancialcenter,HKEXhasimplementedseveralreformmeasurestoenhancethelistingframeworkandpromotethediversificationandmulti-tiereddevelopmentofthecapitalmarket.Thesemeasuresincludeintroducingnewlistingpathwaysforspecialtechnologycompanies,loweringtheexpectedmarketcapitalizationthresholdforlisting,reducingthepercentageofresearchanddevelopmentexpenses,refiningtherequirementsforsubstantialinvestmentbysophisticatedindependentinvestors,andoptimizingthepricingprocess.HKEXhasalsoreleasedaconsultationpaperonGEMreform,proposingmeasurestoenhanceGEM'sappealtosmallandmedium-sizedenterpriseswithhighgrowthpotential.Additionally,adedicatedtaskforcehasbeenestablishedtocomprehensivelyreviewfactorsaffectingstockmarketliquidity.Theintroductionofthenewdigitalizedfirst-timepublicofferingsettlementplatform,FINI,hasfacilitatedmarketparticipantsandissuers,enhancingmarketefficiencyandassistingineffectiveriskandcostmanagement.Furthermore,anewprepaymentmodelforpublicofferingfundswillbeintroducedtoreducethefrozenfundsfromoversubscribednewshares. Thishandbookisdesignedtoassistyouinnavigatingthelistingprocesssuccessfully.Itcoversvariousaspects,includingbutnotlimitedto,considerationsforIPOandpre-IPOpreparation,theIPOapplicationprocess,thelatestlistingrules,Chapter18C,andnewspecialisttechnologycompanylistingregimes,aswellasthespin-offofsubsidiariesofHongKong-listedcompanies.ItalsoaddresseskeyconsiderationsforHKEX'sESGreportingcomplianceandstrategy,delistingrequirements,reorganizationafterdelisting,andtheimpactoftechnologyonexecutingasuccessfulIPO,amongothertopics. Itrustthatthishandbookwillcontributetoyourcompany'ssuccessintheHongKongIPOmarket.Iextendsinceregratitudetothecontributorsandexpertswhohavededicatedtheireffortstothecreationofthishandbook. RanajitDam ManagingEditor,LegalMediaGroupThomsonReuters Foreword Foreword CHAPTER1 CHAPTER2 CHAPTER3 CHAPTER4 PracticalGuide CHAPTER5 CHAPTER6 ConnectivityandInnovation–16 WhyHongKongRemainsaLeadingIPOHub NavigatingtheFuture:Auditors'Crucial