Tencent-backed QuantumPharm on track to become Hong Kong’s second-biggest IPO of the year

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The retail tranche of QuantumPharm’s IPO has been oversubscribed 75 times, which will allow the AI drug firm to raise HK$1.13 billion (US$145 million)

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More companies are lining up to launch IPOs in Hong Kong amid improving market sentiment. Photo: Edmond So

Enoch Yiu

Published: 6:42pm, 7 Jun 2024

Investors have piled into the initial public offering (IPO) of QuantumPharm, oversubscribing the retail tranche 75 times and putting the pre-revenue pharmaceutical company on track to price the shares at the top of the range.

The Tencent-backed artificial intelligence (AI) drug researcher will raise HK$1.13 billion (US$145 million) if the offer is priced at the top end of the HK$5.03 to HK$6.03 band, making it the second-biggest IPO in Hong Kong this year after Chinese tea shop giant Sichuan Baicha Baidao Industrial’s HK$2.46 billion offering in April, according to LSEG data.

The company will price the shares on Tuesday, with the results of the allotments to be announced a day before the listing on June 13.

QuantumPharm received about HK$4.3 billion of orders based on 12 major brokers’ margin lending to clients for the retail tranche of its IPO when the books closed at noon on Friday, according to Futu Securities.

Phillip Securities (Hong Kong) topped the list, receiving subscriptions worth HK$2.7 billion from its margin-lending clients and HK$11 million from its cash clients.

Futu Securities ranked second at HK$748 million, followed by Bright Smart Securities at HK$220 million.