An Initial Public Offering (IPO) is an offer made by a company to sell its stocks on a public exchange for the first time to gain capital that will be used to expand its business or develop new projects within that same industry.
As with any other IPO, this event will also grant access to more funds than would otherwise be available, which is why investors are particularly interested in these new offers. These publicly traded companies can increase their long-term revenue. Still, it also represents the first time when non-business related parties – e.g., private investors – can gain some control over certain decisions, such as changes in management or strategic direction.
The IPO process begins with the commercialisation of a business plan which must be detailed enough to give investors an idea of how much money they will make if they invest in this project. An IPO is generally designed to raise capital for use within a given industry or geographical area. However, companies can also use this type of offering to acquire other businesses or expand into new markets while having access to more funds than would otherwise be possible.
Several factors affect the price of a company’s shares, such as their assets and revenue, and decisions made by their managers or changes in economic forecasts for the sector they operate.
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How companies register an IPO in Hong Kong
Getting an IPO in Hong Kong is not as easy as it used to be. There are many stages that the company will have to go through before they can become listed, which means that getting in to this process will take a lot of work and time.
A Preliminary Prospectus
A Preliminary Prospectus is an official document that local authorities must approve before being published to allow potential investors to have all necessary information before deciding whether or not they should purchase shares from a given company.
It contains the most relevant information about the business, its structure and its purpose within that industry, details regarding stock prices, how it will be distributed across exchanges, etc.
After this process has taken place, the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong will review submitted documents to see if they meet specific requirements. Thus far, no company applying for an IPO has been rejected because there are no limitations on businesses who want to raise funds via this method.
Meet all requirements set out by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)
Companies will have to meet specific requirements set out by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). If these requirements are met, the company can apply for a listing on one of Hong Kong’s stock exchanges.
Find an underwriter
After making sure the Chinese government approves of what you are doing, you are ready to start finding investors. The first step is finding an underwriter because it takes around five months until receiving approval from the SFC. To help speed up this process, the underwriter will help you build a relationship with key market makers, resulting in their assistance in getting major investors involved.
Get listed
Finally, after all this hard work, your company is ready to be listed at one of Hong Kong’s three stock exchanges: The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK), The Growth Enterprise Market Limited (GEM) and The Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company Limited (HKSCC).
Finally
In general, there are a few restrictions on who can buy shares from a publicly-traded company during an IPO process and for the first 12 months after listing. For example, those participating in this offer must have sufficient knowledge about the industry they want to invest in and the project behind the idea itself. New investors interested in the stocks market are advised to use a reputable online broker from Saxo Bank.
