By Enoch Yiu

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Zijin Gold International has delayed the closing of its US$3.2 billion initial public offering (IPO) – the second-largest in Hong Kong this year – to Thursday noon, a day later than previously scheduled, because of the impact of Super Typhoon Ragasa.
“As there is a tropical cyclone warning signal No 8 or above in force, and due to extreme conditions caused by the bad weather … the expected timetable of the global offering as set out in the prospectus and the formal notice will be accordingly postponed,” the company said in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday.
Share allocation results would now be revealed on Monday instead of Friday, and the stock would debut on September 30 instead of September 29, the Chinese mining giant said.
Similarly, Shenzhen Hipine Precision Technology, a gold-case watchmaker aiming to raise up to HK$313.76 million (US$40 million) via its IPO, will delay its book close by a business day to Thursday and its trading debut to Tuesday, the company said.
The Hong Kong Observatory issued the highest-level No 10 typhoon signal on Wednesday morning, as hurricane-force winds and heavy rain brought traffic and business to a standstill. The weather forecaster indicated that the No 10 signal would remain in force for some time.
While Hong Kong abolished its long-standing rule requiring the stock market to close during a No 8 or higher typhoon warning last September, companies still have the discretion to alter their share offering timelines due to adverse weather.

Zijin Gold’s IPO has garnered significant interest from retail investors, who borrowed HK$409.77 billion from 12 major brokers as of Wednesday morning – 164 times the retail tranche offering of HK$2.5 billion, according to data from Futu Securities.
The firm’s international placement for institutional investors, totalling HK$22.48 billion, was completed with a positive response, according to brokers familiar with the deal.
Zijin Gold has secured 29 cornerstone investors, who have subscribed to a combined HK$12.47 billion worth of shares. They include Singapore’s wealth fund GIC, private equity firm Hillhouse and multinational investment companies BlackRock and Schroders.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Zijin Mining Group, Zijin Gold aims to raise HK$24.98 billion from its IPO, which began on Friday. The firm is offering 349 million shares at HK$71.59 each, with retail investors granted access to 10 per cent of those shares, while the remainder is allocated to international institutional investors.
The IPO is set to be the largest after the US$5.24 billion share sale in May by Contemporary Amperex Technology, the world’s leading manufacturer of battery packs for electric vehicles.
The blockbuster listing of Zijin Gold is expected to further solidify Hong Kong’s leading position in the IPO market.
As of Friday, the city had hosted 60 companies that collectively raised US$18.5 billion – a 158 per cent increase from a year earlier. The surge has allowed Hong Kong to reclaim its status as the world’s largest IPO market in terms of funds raised for the first time since 2019, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group.