Photo:Xinhua

Chinese detergent maker Blue Moon Group Holdings has become the latest in a record number of companies to raise at least $1 billion in a Hong Kong IPO in 2020 after pricing its shares at HK$13.16, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The price was at the top of the range flagged by the company when the deal launched last Friday and means Blue Moon will raise $1.27 billion.

The sources could not be identified as the information had not yet been made public.

Blue Moon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

There has been 15 IPOs and secondary listings in Hong Kong worth at least $1 billion this year which is a record high, according to Refinitiv data.

Those mega deals have raised $29.52 billion which is the highest level since 2010, the data showed.

Positive financial market sentiment coupled with unprecedented global liquidity is expected to result in a higher than usual number of equity capital market deals in December, according to bankers and advisors.

Blue Moon, backed by private equity group Hillhouse Capital, sold 747.1 million shares in the deal which gives the company a market capitalisation of almost $10 billion.

Hillhouse will exercise some of its anti-dilution subscription option to maintain its stake at 9.3%, the term sheet showed.

A further 112 million shares can be sold as part of a so-called greenshoe option within the next 30 days.

Six cornerstone investors led by Veritas Asset Management, the British investment fund, have taken a $235 million stake in the Blue Moon deal that accounts for nearly 21 percent of the IPO, according to the term sheet.

Blue Moon's prospectus showed its net profit for the first half of 2020 reached HK$302 million ($39 million), up nearly 40 percent from the same time the previous year.

The company plans to spend more than half of the IPO proceeds on building up its sales and distribution networks and a third of the money raised in expanding its production capacity, according to its prospectus.

Reuters