By Scott Murdoch
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Chinese bubble tea firm Guming has raised $232 million in a Hong Kong initial public offering after setting the price of its shares at the top of an indicated range, according to a term sheet.
The pricing was at the top of the HK$8.68 to HK$9.94 ($1.11-$1.28) per share range flagged to investors when the deal launched on Tuesday, the term sheet, which was seen by Reuters, showed.
Guming did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Guming’s IPO ends a regulatory freeze for Chinese bubble tea makers which had been in place for most of last year, as IPO applicants struggled to get formal approval.
A total of 158.81 million shares were to be sold in the IPO but the deal was increased to add a further 23.79 million shares, the term sheet showed.
International investors bidding for Guming stock in the IPO had their allocations scaled back following strong demand from Hong Kong retail investors.
Of the IPO stock, 90% was set aside for institutional investors when the deal was launched but that was reduced to 56.5%, the term sheet showed. Retail investors’ allotment was increased to 43.5% from 10%, indicating strong bidding for stock from those investors.
Chinese regulators were slow to approve bubble tea deals like Guming’s, among others, after Sichuan Baicha Baidao, whose shares are down more than 40% since their April debut last year.
Guming shares will begin trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
Five cornerstone investors, led by Tencent subsidiary Huang River, subscribed to the IPO for up to $71 million worth of Guming stock collectively, an earlier filing showed.
($1 = 7.7897 Hong Kong dollars)
(Reporting by Scott Murdoch; Editing by Kim Coghill and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
