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SF Holding, China's largest courier deliverer often regarded as the nation's equivalent to FedEx, delivered a flat trading debut in Hong Kong amid tepid sentiment, a precursor to a busy week of stock debuts that will add several billion Hong Kong dollars to this year's listing proceeds.

Trading under the 6936 code, SF shares rose by as much as 1.2 per cent to an intraday high of HK$35.50, after opening unchanged from its initial public offering price (IPO) of HK$34.30. The shares ended the day unchanged, while the benchmark Hang Seng Index climbed 2.3 per cent from a two-month low.

The opening trading premium values the company's Hong Kong-listed equity base at HK$6.7 billion based on its post-listing capital base of 195.5 million shares, according to its listing prospectus. SF Holding has about 4.82 billion A shares listed in Shenzhen.

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Delivery workers of SF Express in Hong Kong's Mong Kok district on 18 August 2021. Photo: Jonathan Wong alt=Delivery workers of SF Express in Hong Kong's Mong Kok district on 18 August 2021. Photo: Jonathan Wong>

"This listing is very meaningful for us, as we are relying on [Hong Kong's open market] to enhance the expansion of our international business", said SF's chairman and CEO Wang Wei, before striking the ceremonial gong to mark the commencement of trading.

At HK$34.35, the company's H shares are worth 32.03 yuan each at current exchange rate. Its A shares in Shenzhen fell 1.1 per cent to 41.60 yuan at of 1.33pm local time, according to exchange data.

SF Holding, whose main business is its SF Express courier service, raised HK$5.83 billion from its IPO. Several investment vehicles linked to Hong Kong billionaires took up stakes as cornerstone investors, including developer Sino Land and a company backed by the family of Henry Cheng Kar-shun of New World Development .

Other parties included US investment firm Oaktree Capital Management, smartphone and EV maker Xiaomi , Morgan Stanley and China Pacific Insurance Group. Goldman Sachs, Huatai Securities and JPMorgan Chase are joint sponsors of the offering.

The fresh round of fundraising will go towards strategic expansion, including strengthening international and cross-border logistics capabilities and supply chain optimisation within mainland China, the company said.

"Asia is the centrepiece of our corporate strategy", Wang said in Mandarin during SF's listing ceremony, before switching to Cantonese to recite the lyrics of "Below the Lion Rock", the 1979 pop song by the late Hong Kong singer Roman Tam.

Wang, 54, founded the courier firm in 1993 in Shenzhen. He was ranked as China's 14th richest businessman in 2024 in the latest Forbes China's 100 Richest list. SF's logistics network now covers all cities in mainland China and 202 countries and regions worldwide. It made a 4.76 billion yuan (US$656 million) profit for the first six months of 2024.

Wang Wei, Chairman of SF Express, during the listing ceremony of the company's A shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on February 24, 2017. Photo: VCG via Getty Images. alt=Wang Wei, Chairman of SF Express, during the listing ceremony of the company's A shares on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on February 24, 2017. Photo: VCG via Getty Images.>

"We were listed on the A share market seven years ago", Wang said. "We have faced a lot of difficulties over these seven years, so our team is equipped to handle whatever challenges, unforeseen circumstances and elements."

SF's debut will go some way to revive Hong Kong's IPO market outlook. The city's ranking slipped to 13th place among global venues in the first half of the year. Proceeds from IPOs this year have reached US$9.2 billion as of November 19, set for the first annual improvement since 2020. Still, they are a far cry from the bumper years of 2020 (US$50 billion) and 2021 (US$42 billion).

Other Chinese companies will also make their debuts later this week. Hangzhou Jiuyuan Gene Engineering will start trading on Thursday after seeking as much as HK$565 million from outside investors. Tianjin-based Mokingran Jewellery Group will start trading on Friday following its HK$619 million deal.

Bonnie Chan Yiting , CEO of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, said on Tuesday that the bourse operator would streamline its listings procedure to fast track approvals for onshore-listed Chinese companies to list their shares in Hong Kong.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) , the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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