Aquila Acquisition gets HKEX approval, moving Hong Kong’s first blank-cheque listing closer to reality
- Chinese restaurant chain Green Tea Group and Aquila Acquisition have been cleared by Hong Kong stock exchange to launch IPOs
- New issuers face challenges from sliding stock markets amid a surge in oil prices that pose a threat to the global economy
While the company did not say how much it plans to raise from the share sale, SPACs in Hong Kong must raise a minimum of HK$1 billion (US$128 million).
Green Tea Group, a Chinese restaurant chain operator with 236 outlets nationwide, also received a nod from the city’s bourse operator for its IPO. The firm aims to raise between US$100 million and US$200 million, a source familiar with the transaction said.
Aquila Acquisition, which is led by CMB International Asset Management along with several executive directors and senior management, said it planned to use the IPO proceeds to buy companies in the “new economy sector”.
“Our objective is to generate attractive returns for the shareholders by selecting a high-quality [acquisition] target,” it said in the prospectus.
Aquila also said that CMB International has invested in over 100 Chinese technology companies, many of which have gone on to launch their own stock offerings. These include China’s super app Meituan and electric-car battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology.
Morgan Stanley and CMB International are the joint sponsors of the SPAC deal.
Green Tea Group, which claims to be the fourth-largest casual Chinese dining chain, plans to open up to 100 new restaurants between 2022 and 2024, according to its draft prospectus. It also plans to use part of the IPO proceeds to upgrade its information technology network.
Citigroup and CMB International are joint sponsors of the deal.
The group earned 94.9 million yuan (US$15 million) of profit in the nine months to September 2021, compared with a net loss of 30.7 million yuan in the same period a year earlier.
On the Nasdaq, the world’s top IPO venue in 2021, there have been no IPOs since mid-February, Refinitiv data shows.