(Dec 30): Chinese artificial intelligence start-up MiniMax has secured Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority as key backers in its upcoming initial public offering in Hong Kong, according to people familiar with the matter.
MiniMax is seeking to raise more than US$600 million ($770.5 billion) from the IPO, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. It is set to start taking investor orders as early as Wednesday for a listing in January, some of them said.
In addition to the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund and Alibaba, IDG Capital, Perseverance Asset Management and South Korea’s Mirae Asset will be among the cornerstone investors in the deal, the people said.
Deliberations are ongoing, and the size and timing of the deal may still change, they added. Representatives for MiniMax, ADIA and IDG declined to comment. Alibaba and Mirae Asset did not respond to requests for comment.
MiniMax is among the survivors of a brutal price war in China dubbed the “Battle of One Hundred Models,” and is in a heated race to become the first domestic generative AI start-up to go public. The company is appealing to investors that want a piece of the emerging technology in China as it seeks to raise funding to take on US leaders such as OpenAI.
Like in the US, there are also concerns in China about over-investment in AI infrastructure without clear paths to profitability. MiniMax generated US$30.5 million in revenue last year. That’s a fraction of the some US$13 billion in revenue OpenAI is projected to make in 2025.
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But global investors and tech firms are unfazed by the short-term headwinds as major countries race to bulk up their AI muscle.
On Monday, Meta Platforms Inc said it has agreed to buy Manus, a popular Singapore-based AI agent with Chinese roots, in its effort to build a business around its massive investment in the technology. The deal values Manus at more than US$2 billion.
MiniMax’s planned share sale follows a year-end rush to list in Hong Kong, in what is set to be a four-year high in proceeds from IPOs in the city. December was the busiest month for IPOs in the Asian financial hub since 2019, with 25 companies debuting their shares.
See also: Insilico jumps 48% in Hong Kong debut after US$293 mil IPO
On Tuesday, rival Knowledge Atlas Technology Joint Stock Co — also known as Zhipu AI — sought to raise HK$4.3 billion from its Hong Kong IPO.
Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja
