The listing, which raises HK$4.8 billion in its IPO to fund R&D, easily outshines a solid 13% climb in Thursday’s debut by Zhipu AI
[SINGAPORE/HONG KONG/BEIJING] MiniMax Group, the second of China’s so-called “AI tigers” to go public, saw its shares double in value on their first day of Hong Kong trade on Friday (Jan 9), as investors clamoured for a piece of a startup with popular consumer apps.
The listing by MiniMax, which raised HK$4.8 billion (S$792.3 million) in its IPO to fund research and development, easily outshone a solid 13 per cent climb in Thursday’s debut by fellow tiger Zhipu AI.
MiniMax shares closed at HK$345 per share, versus their offer price of HK$165.00, valuing the company at about US$13.7 billion. At one point, the shares rose as high as HK$351.8.
“MiniMax’s focus on the consumer market appealed more to investors seeking high-growth opportunities, whereas Zhipu’s enterprise- and government-oriented model was perceived as more stable but less exciting in a market driven by hype,” said Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at tech research firm Omdia.
Investors were also attracted by the strong performance of the company’s open source foundation models in key benchmarks, he added.
Founded in early 2022 by former SenseTime executive Yan Junjie, Shanghai-based MiniMax develops artificial intelligence models that can process text, audio, images, video and music. Popular apps include Hailuo AI, a video generation tool, and Talkie, an AI character interaction app that enables users to engage with AI-powered virtual personas.
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“This is only the beginning,” Yan said at the firm’s listing ceremony. “We look forward to the next four years, hoping the pace of technological progress in the AI industry will remain as fast.”
Its cornerstone investors include Alibaba, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Boyu Capital, a Hong Kong-based alternative asset management firm, as well as Mirae Asset.
Zhipu AI, flagged by OpenAI as a Chinese AI startup gaining significant ground in government contracts, climbed a further 20.6 per cent on Friday. It raised HK$4.35 billion in its IPO and is currently valued at close to US$9 billion.
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With AI dominating investor interest worldwide, expectations for Chinese AI listings and other deals are high, although China’s most well-known AI firm, DeepSeek, has yet to indicate any IPO plans.
Huawei’s AI server spinoff xFusion has hired Citic Securities in preparation for a mainland IPO, while memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies and Baidu’s AI chip arm Kunlunxin are planning listings too, Reuters has reported.
Semiconductor specialists OmniVision Integrated Circuits and GigaDevice Semiconductor, both listed in Shanghai, are also due to commence trading in Hong Kong next week after secondary offerings.
Hong Kong saw a resurgence in IPOs last year, becoming the world’s top destination for listings, propelled by regulatory changes and pent-up demand from firms seeking access to capital after years of tough oversight from mainland Chinese authorities. Some US$37.2 billion was raised from 115 new listings, the most since 2021, according to LSEG data. REUTERS
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