Hong Kong-based booking service Klook, a competitor of TripAdvisor and Booking.com, is preparing a $500 million offering in New York. Asian fast-fashion retailer Shein is thinking of returning its headquarters from Singapore to China to finally go public. Marketplace operator SMG Swiss Marketplace Group could raise $1.2 billion on a Zurich listing as early as September. The main IPO market events of the week are in our selection.

What has come to light about future placements

- Asian fast fashion retailer Shein, which in recent years has carefully distanced itself from China in an effort to IPO in New York or London, may move its headquarters from Singapore back to China. Shein is now preparing an IPO in Hong Kong, and moving the parent structure to China will make it easier to coordinate a listing with Beijing regulators, Bloomberg sources said. Shein's plans to list its shares on Western exchanges have faced opposition from activists opposed to forced labor in China. They say the retailer's supply chain in China includes cotton produced using forced labor of Uighurs. Shein denies the allegations.

- SMG Swiss Marketplace Group, operator of real estate portal ImmoScout24, is considering an IPO in Zurich. According to Bloomberg sources, the company could raise about 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.2 billion) as early as September. The agency's interlocutors say SMG's valuation during the listing could reach 4.5 billion francs. SMG's IPO will be the first major offering in Zurich since cosmetics company Galderma Group went public in March 2024. SMG was formed in 2021 and now operates marketplaces for real estate, automobiles, finance and insurance.

- American EquipmentShare, engaged in renting out construction equipment, is considering an IPO in the U.S. for more than $1 billion, a source told Bloomberg. According to him, the company could go public as early as 2025. EquipmentShare was valued at $3.75 billion on the 2023 Investraound, according to PitchBook.

- Hong Kong-based travel booking service Klook has hired investment banks Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan to help organize an IPO in the United States, Reuters reported, citing two sources. The listing could take place this year and raise about $500 million, the sources said. Klook was founded in 2014 and began turning a profit nine years later. It provides various booking services for travelers around the world, competing with Booking.com and TripAdvisor.

- US Pattern, which resells goods on Amazon and other marketplaces, plans to file for an IPO in the US in August, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. One of them said the offering could raise about $400 million. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Evercore and Jefferies are involved in preparing the listing, the sources said. Pattern is the second-largest seller on Amazon, according to Marketplace Pulse. Filing for an IPO in August will allow Pattern to fit in a busy September schedule: payment service Klarna, cybersecurity company Netskope and blockchain lender Figure Technology Solutions may go public on U.S. exchanges.

- German prosthetics manufacturer Ottobock expects to be valued at more than 6 billion euros ($7 billion) in an IPO that could take place between late September and mid-October, Reuters reported, citing a source. Owner and chairman Hans Georg Neder and his family are expected to offer to sell between 25% and 30% of their shares in the offering, but an alternative scenario of a staggered stake sale is also possible, the source said. Ottobock has postponed plans to start trading shares on the stock exchange in 2022 due to volatility.

- Chinese developer of surgical robots Edge Medical, whose investor is the Singaporean state fund Temasek, intends to raise $150-200 million in an IPO in Hong Kong, Bloomberg sources say. According to them, Edge Medical has applied for a listing and plans to go public in 2025. Three years ago, the startup already wanted to go on the Hong Kong exchange, but the market then fell to its lowest since 2009. The company has resumed preparations for a listing as Chinese stocks from the healthcare and biotechnology sectors are back in demand from investors.

Other important news from the world of IPOs

- Companies betting on connectivity with artificial intelligence and the crypto sector are accelerating their entry into the stock market after this summer's triple-digit growth in quotes on the first day of trading became a familiar sight on the U.S. stock market, Bloomberg writes. Technology companies that had planned to list late this year or early next year are now looking to list earlier, Will Connolly, co-head of equity capital markets for the Americas at Goldman Sachs, told the agency. According to the forecast of his colleague from JPMorgan Chase Keith Canton, dozens of companies could go public by the end of 2025 and collectively raise more than $15 billion. JPMorgan is now working with a dozen companies that have already applied for an IPO, and another 15-20 companies are actively probing the ground, Canton added.

- Chinese authorities have virtually stopped allowing IPOs outside the mainland, according to Nikkei Asia. According to the publication's calculations, from July 1 to August 15, the China Securities Market Regulatory Commission (CSRC) gave the green light to only three applications for listing in Hong Kong, while in the first half of the year, 70 Chinese companies received permission to list in Hong Kong and abroad. This may be partly due to cyclical or seasonal factors, given the usually long lead times for applications. Nevertheless, investment bankers note the slowdown and emphasize that it is the CSRC that determines the pace of the processes, the article said. After several successful listings by large companies, a slew of small- and mid-cap firms suddenly announced plans to list on the Hong Kong bourse in July 2025, said Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis. "This is not the hype that regulators want," he concluded.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor

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