(Jan 8): Investment firm Baillie Gifford and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ltd are among those buying shares in MiniMax Group Inc’s much-awaited HK$4.8 billion (US$619 million or $791.07 million) initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) firm’s IPO, which was priced at the top of its marketed range, saw institutional investors bid for more than 70 times the shares available for them, excluding the cornerstone tranche, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. The deal received more than 460 bids from institutions, they said.
Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management and asset manager Schroders plc are also among the buyers, the people said. Global long-only investors — which generally invest in stocks they expect to rise while abstaining from short-selling — and sovereign-wealth funds took up a majority of shares available for institutions excluding the cornerstone tranche, the people added.
A spokesperson for Baillie Gifford confirmed its subscription to the MiniMax IPO. A representative of Schroders declined to comment. Norges Bank also declined to comment, while GIC didn’t respond to a request for comments.
Shares of MiniMax, one of China’s largest generative AI start-ups that is seen as a challenger to OpenAI Inc, are set to start trading in Hong Kong on Friday amid a wave of blockbuster listings in the sector both on the mainland and in Hong Kong. On Thursday, shares of rival Knowledge Atlas Technology JSC Ltd, better known as Zhipu, climbed 13% in their debut in the Asian financial hub.
Both MiniMax and Zhipu epitomise China’s no-frills approach to AI, operating with far less capital, fewer chips and leaner headcounts than the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic PBC. Their stock performance is being seen as an early measure of whether investors view the firms as credible challengers to their US counterparts.
See also: Goldman, UBS working on CK Hutchison's Watson IPO in HK, London — Bloomberg
Ahead of their debut, MiniMax’s shares jumped as much as 22% in grey market trading in Hong Kong on Thursday.
Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee
