SenseTime Relaunches Hong Kong IPO, Trading to Start Dec. 30

(Bloomberg) — Chinese artificial intelligence firm SenseTime Group Inc. filed updated listing documents with the Hong Kong exchange as it sought to resume its initial public offering, after a U.S. government directive forced the company to delay the process.

The AI startup said it will reopen orders for its Hong Kong offering on Monday for its first-time share sale, according to a statement to the stock exchange. Trading is expected to begin Dec. 30.

China International Capital Corp., Haitong International Securities Group Ltd. and HSBC Holdings Plc are listed in the prospectus as joint sponsors. Guotai Junan Securities (Hong Kong) Ltd. and BOCOM International Securities Ltd. ceased to be joint bookrunners, joint lead managers and underwriters in the revised filing.

The company is still seeking to raise as much as $767 million from the listing, offering 1.5 billion shares at HK$3.85 to HK$3.99 apiece. SenseTime said in a statement last week that it would issue refunds to retail investors, after the company failed to price its IPO on Dec. 10 as previously expected. It had aimed to start trading on Dec. 17.

The original timetable was derailed earlier this month by reports that the U.S. Treasury Department would sanction the company for its alleged role in creating facial-recognition software used in the oppression of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang autonomous region of western China. The sanctions were later confirmed by the Treasury Department.

The firm responded saying the U.S. government’s accusations were “unfounded and reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of our company.”

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