Hong Kong IPOs top HK$400bn, with 45% raised by just ten deals

Ten deals supplied 45% of the year's money. Six of them closed on 28 October between 7% and 29% under their offer prices, and Victory Giant's cornerstones are already free to sell. Dongshan Precision filled exactly half its offer with cornerstones while the retail tranche was 0.52 times covered.

Six of Hong Kong's ten largest IPOs this year closed on 28 October between 7% and 29% below their offer prices. The cornerstone investors in those deals, who commit before launch and agree not to sell for six months, are free to sell or soon will be.

Our tally shows the paper losses for cornerstone investors. Victory Giant's cornerstones are down HK$2.3bn and have been free since 21 October. Innolight's 35 cornerstones are down HK$5.3bn and are free from 30 January 2027. Each unlock date puts shares in the hands of holders who are under water.

The six laggards are easy to name. Victory Giant was 28.9% under (HK$149.30 against HK$209.88), SHEIN 23.9%, Luxshare 21.2%, Innolight 19.9%, Chaozhou Three-Circle 14.4% and Muyuan 6.7%. Dongshan, which listed that day, closed 0.75% under. Montage, at HK$230.20 against HK$106.89, is the exception.

Victory Giant's unlocked shares

Victory Giant is the preview. Its HK$23.1bn April deal is the third largest of the year. Its allotment announcement put the last day under lockup for its cornerstones at 20 October 2026, so they have been free since 21 October.

Those cornerstones took 37,220,100 shares at HK$209.88, a cost of HK$7.8bn. At HK$149.30 the stake is worth HK$5.6bn, a paper loss of HK$2.3bn. A week after release they were still 28.9% under water on 28 October.

January unlocks and paper losses

The July deals hold the largest unlocks still to come. Zhongji Innolight raised HK$53.4bn at pricing, Luxshare HK$24.3bn and Chaozhou Three-Circle HK$7.2bn. On the report's figures, which include over-allotment shares, the three raised HK$94.5bn, 23% of the year's total.

Zhongji Innolight is the largest deal of the year. It raised HK$53.4bn at pricing (US$6.8bn), from 54.5 million shares at HK$980. The report shows HK$61.4bn because it adds the 8,175,000 over-allotted shares at HK$980, worth HK$8.0bn.

Release dates are fixed at six months from listing, counting the debut day. Luxshare and Chaozhou Three-Circle listed on 9 July, and their announcements give 8 January 2027 as the last day under lockup. Both can be sold from 9 January. Innolight's last day is 29 January, so its shares can be sold from 30 January.

Innolight is still short of its offer price. On 28 October, Google Finance showed it at HK$785 against its HK$980 offer. It needs a 24.8% rise to get there.

Innolight rose 8.28% on 28 October alone, from HK$725. Even so, its cornerstones carry a loss. Its allotment announcement lists 35 cornerstone investors, among them Alibaba, Tencent, BlackRock and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Those 35 hold 27,249,400 shares, exactly 50.00% of the offer. At HK$785 that stake is worth HK$21.4bn against a cost of HK$26.7bn at the offer price. The paper loss is HK$5.3bn.

Luxshare is the same story. It closed at HK$49.86 against HK$63.28, so it needs a 26.9% rise to reach its offer. Its cornerstones took 185,736,900 shares, 48.44% of the offer, and sit on a paper loss of about HK$2.5bn.

Chaozhou's cornerstones took 35,550,000 shares, 49.81% of its offer. At HK$85.90 against the HK$100.30 offer, that book is about HK$0.5bn under water.

Dongshan reaches the cornerstone cap

Dongshan Precision, the newest deal, shows who bought. It listed on 28 October, and its allotment announcement shows gross proceeds of HK$9.88bn at HK$86.80 a share. Twenty cornerstone investors took 56,891,100 shares, exactly 50.00% of the 113,783,200 offer shares, or HK$4.94bn.

Paragraph 3.2 of Practice Note 18, a Hong Kong rule on cornerstone placings, caps the cornerstone tranche at 50% of the shares initially offered. To fit, the banks cut Yonglian Investment from 7,956,300 shares to 3,366,700.

Aurora SF took 11.92%, JPMorgan Asset Management 5.96% and Alibaba Investment 3.58%. Strategic holders (Alibaba, Montage, Nexchip) sit beside market makers (Jane Street, Jump Trading).

Retail demand for Dongshan was thin. The Hong Kong public tranche started at 10% of the offer, or 11,378,400 shares, and ended at 5.19%. It was 0.52 times covered, drew 4,484 valid applications and raised about HK$0.51bn.

The July deals drew far more retail interest. Chaozhou Three-Circle's public tranche was 327.49 times covered with 174,984 applications. Innolight's was 16.84 times with 62,731, and Luxshare's 3.78 times with 47,308. Retail cover has fallen from 327 times in July to 0.52 times at Dongshan.

The international tranche at Dongshan was 3.17 times covered. It grew to 94.81% of the offer when 5,472,900 unsold public shares moved into it, and it had 81 placees. Dongshan closed its first day at HK$86.15, 0.75% below the HK$86.80 offer, after a grey market close of HK$82 the day before.

How concentrated the IPO year is

The wider year explains why these unlocks matter. Hong Kong has raised more than HK$400bn from new listings, more than double the HK$188.3bn of the first nine months of 2025. Wind data show it above every full year since 2010, Shanghai Securities News reported on 29 October.

That total describes a narrow market. Ten large issuers raised 45% of the money, and July alone raised 31%. The ten largest deals raised HK$180.7bn, or 44.8% of the total. The other 109 listings raised HK$223.0bn between them, an average of HK$2.05bn.

The typical deal is far smaller, because a handful of giants lift the average. The median listing raised HK$1.39bn, and 38 listings raised under HK$1bn. Only 26 raised HK$5bn or more.

Mainland H-share issuers raised HK$364.8bn, or 90.4% of proceeds. The other 12 raised HK$38.9bn, led by private company exits: SHEIN HK$13.6bn, Momenta HK$5.9bn, Ligent HK$5.7bn and MiniMax HK$5.5bn.

The official numbers are specific. HKEX's monthly highlights show 118 new listings in the first nine months, up 71% from 69. IPO funds were HK$388.0bn, up 106%.

Summing the rows in HKEX's new listing report to 28 October gives HK$403.7bn from 119 listings. October added HK$15.4bn from three: ESWIN, Transsion and Dongshan.

The same report puts earlier years in context. It shows HK$330.5bn for 2021, then HK$104.6bn in 2022, HK$46.3bn in 2023, HK$87.7bn in 2024 and HK$286.7bn in 2025 from 117 listings. This year has passed all of them with two months to run.

July raised HK$126.1bn from 16 listings; August raised HK$3.7bn from two. The chart shows the other months.

The next unlocks are dated, and the price gaps are wide. Unless Innolight climbs 24.8% from HK$785 by 30 January 2027, its 35 cornerstones will face the choice Victory Giant's holders have had since 21 October. They can sell at a loss or keep holding. Luxshare and Chaozhou Three-Circle cornerstones face the same choice from 9 January.