By Enoch Yiu

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Super Typhoon Ragasa is expected to force Zijin Gold International, which launched Hong Kong’s second-biggest initial public offering (IPO) this year, to delay the book close offering for its retail investors from tomorrow, according to its listing prospectus.
The Hong Kong Observatory on Tuesday afternoon issued the No 8 warning signal, as the typhoon is expected to bring hurricane-force winds with speeds of up to 230km/h (143mph) and thunderstorms.
The weather forecaster said it would assess the need to issue a higher warning signal later on Tuesday to early Wednesday, when Zijin Gold was supposed to close its IPO.
“The Zujin Gold IPO may well delay its book close for its IPO and even debut trading timeline, according to the listing prospectus,” said Katerine Kou, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Securities Association, an industry body for brokers.
The transaction may also close on Tuesday, a day earlier than scheduled, according to an IFR report, citing sources.
Zijin Gold did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
While Hong Kong last September scrapped its decades-old rule to close the stock market when a typhoon warning signal No 8 or higher is issued, companies can still decide whether their share offering timeline would be changed as a result of the bad weather.
“The application lists will not open or close on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, if there is a tropical cyclone warning signal number 8 or above, extreme conditions and/or a black rainstorm warning at any time between 9am and 12 noon on Wednesday,” Zijin Gold’s listing prospectus said.
It added that the book close would happen on “the next business day, which does not have severe weather signals in force at any time between 9am and 12 noon”.

“Prospective investors should be aware that a postponement of the opening/closing of the application lists may result in a delay in the listing date,” the prospectus said.
The share trading debut on Monday may also be changed if the book close of the IPO is delayed, it said.
While the retail tranche is still being offered, the gold mining firm’s international placement for institutional investors has been completed with a positive response, according to brokers familiar with the deal.
Zijin Gold has already secured 29 cornerstone investors who subscribed to a combined HK$12.47 billion worth of shares. Singapore wealth fund GIC, private equity firm Hillhouse and multinational investment companies BlackRock and Schroders are among the cornerstone investors.
Retail investors have borrowed HK$274.08 billion from 12 major brokers as of Tuesday, 110 times the offering of the retail tranche, according to data from Futu Securities.
Zijin Gold, a wholly owned unit of Zijin Mining Group, aimed to raise HK$24.98 billion (US$3.2 billion) from its IPO, which started last Friday. The firm was selling 349 -million shares at HK$71.59 each. Retail investors would have access to 10 per cent of the shares, with the rest allocated to international institutional investors.
The deal would be second in size to the US$5.24 billion share sale in May by Contemporary Amperex Tech-nology, the world’s largest maker of battery packs for electric vehicles.
Super Typhoon Ragasa also prompted another new Hong Kong IPO candidate, Chery Automobile, to cancel its listing ceremony on Thursday. Still, its shares are expected to start trading on the day, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Chery is expected to raise HK$9.14 billion through its IPO, which ended on Monday, with brokers estimating the firm can set the price at the top end of the offering at HK$30.75. Its offering joined a wave of mainland companies tapping into strong investor sentiment in the electric vehicle sector.
In the first eight months of the year, IPO fundraising in Hong Kong reached HK$134.5 billion, surging 579 per cent from a year earlier, according to bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. A total of 59 companies were listed in the first eight months of 2025, up 37 per cent from a year earlier, it added.