CICC
China International Capital Corp maintained its leadership in cross-border equity capital markets during our awards period, and worked on more ECM deals involving Chinese issuers than any of its Chinese and global peers, with an overall deal volume of $10 billion, according to Dealogic.
It gained a 9.36% market share acting as a bookrunner for IPOs, follow-ons and convertible bonds for Chinese issuers in Hong Kong and the US, ranking top among all Chinese and international ECM houses.
The joint venture investment bank is second to none when it comes to bringing large Chinese state-owned enterprises to the international capital markets with blockbuster deals, making use of its long-standing relationships with central SOEs to win IPO mandates.
Having been involved with China Tower Corp since its establishment in 2014, CICC acted as a joint sponsor for the company’s listing in Hong Kong last year, navigating unfavourable market conditions at the time to pull off the largest IPO globally since Postal Saving Bank of China’s listing in 2016.
The HK$54.3 billion ($6.9 billion) deal was also the largest IPO from the country’s telecom industry.
But CICC’s story was never just an SOE story. As a joint global coordinator, the investment bank was also involved in high-profile transactions during our awards period, including the HK$37.1 billion listing of technology firm Xiaomi Corp, and the HK$7.56 billion deal for hotpot chain Haidilao International Holding.
It was the sole sponsor for a handful of Hong Kong IPOs, including the HK$3.08 billion deal for Junshi Biosciences, the first Chinese company to be listed on both the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ) – nicknamed the ‘new third board’ – and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
While most of its Chinese peers are still focusing on their ECM businesses in Hong Kong, CICC continues to expand its presence in the US market, executing 10 IPOs as a bookrunner during our awards period.
These include the $1.6 billion listing on the Nasdaq for one of China’s hottest internet startups, Pinduoduo, whose deal was priced at the top of the range in a week when other Chinese tech firms had to downsize their fundraisings, as well as the $561 million IPO of the fast-growing Luckin Coffee, which was listed only 18 months after its inception.
CICC was also a bookrunner on Pinduoduo’s US follow-on offering, which raised $1.38 billion.
The firm was seen in novel transactions such as Qingdao Haier’s ground-breaking D-share (German) listing where it was the only Chinese bookrunner.
The firm also helped YiChang HEC ChangJiang Pharmaceutical secure $400 million from a Hong Kong convertible bond as sole bookrunner.