In 2025, the Hong Kong stock market re-established itself as a core hub of global capital market activity, driven by a dual-engine model of "IPO recovery + follow-on offering resurgence." The Hong Kong IPO market witnessed a powerful comeback, raising a total of HKD 285.6 billion for the year (as of January 16, 2026), catapulting it to the top spot globally in terms of IPO fundraising size. In the refinancing sector (including convertible bonds), the total capital raised climbed to HKD 273.5 billion, a staggering 417% increase from the HKD 53.3 billion raised in 2024. Combined, the total fundraising of HKD 559.1 billion not only nearly quadrupled the HKD 141.4 billion from 2024 but also approached the peak levels seen in 2021.
The fundraising structure reveals a stark contrast between the IPO and refinancing markets in Hong Kong. IPO fundraising was predominantly led by familiar faces, including A-to-H listings, spin-offs, and homecomings of US-listed Chinese companies. For instance, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited's (CATL) A-to-H listing raised HKD 41 billion, making it the largest IPO project of the year, while Zijin Mining Group's Zijin Gold International raised HKD 28.7 billion via a spin-off. These listings by mature enterprises directly underpinned the core volume of the IPO market.
Conversely, the refinancing market's fundraising landscape was markedly different, more accurately reflecting the sectoral preferences within the Hong Kong secondary market. The consumer discretionary sector emerged as the absolute dominant force, capturing 36% of the total with HKD 98.9 billion in fundraising, a figure bolstered by several landmark large-scale projects: BYD Company Limited's HKD 43.5 billion top-up placement stood as the largest financing deal in Hong Kong stocks, while NIO Inc. raised a combined HKD 13.1 billion through two separate offerings. The information technology sector followed closely with HKD 66.8 billion in fundraising, featuring Xiaomi Corporation's HKD 42.6 billion top-up placement and Horizon Robotics' HKD 11 billion raised via two offerings. The healthcare sector raised a total of HKD 44.7 billion, accounting for 16% of the market, with major refinancing projects including WuXi AppTec's HKD 7.7 billion financing and Innovent Biologics' HKD 4.3 billion raise, highlighting the market's capital allocation bias towards high-quality healthcare companies.
In terms of refinancing types, overnight accelerated book-built offerings became the overwhelmingly dominant method. Valued for their speed and ability to swiftly capture market sentiment, they became the preferred choice for most Hong Kong-listed companies seeking refinancing. Data shows that overnight book-built placements accounted for over 95% of the total refinancing volume in Hong Kong during 2025. Notably, all of the top ten refinancing projects in Hong Kong stocks utilized this method to raise capital.
Furthermore, under Hong Kong stock market rules, listed companies can seek a general mandate from shareholders at an annual general meeting, authorizing the board to issue new shares. Typically, the number of new shares issued within a year cannot exceed 20% of the total H shares, and there are no restrictions on the number of fundraising rounds per year, nor is regulatory approval required for each issuance. This rule design grants issuers exceptionally high financing flexibility.
This flexible framework has fostered a market pattern characterized by "on-demand financing and continuous capital replenishment." In 2025, a total of 63 companies completed two or more rounds of refinancing, injecting capital momentum into business expansion and technology R&D through repeated fundraising. Among them, NIO conducted two rounds raising a combined HKD 13.1 billion, Horizon Robotics raised a cumulative HKD 11.1 billion over two rounds, and UBTECH even achieved three rounds totaling HKD 6.5 billion. However, some market observers caution that the rule allowing issuances based solely on a general mandate, bypassing additional regulatory scrutiny, could potentially lead to phenomena of undisciplined fundraising in the Hong Kong refinancing market.
Focusing on the quarterly rhythm reveals a clearer linkage between Hong Kong stock refinancing activity and index performance in 2025. Data trends show that the two peaks for IPO fundraising occurred in the second and fourth quarters, whereas the peaks for refinancing were concentrated in the first and third quarters, reaching HKD 106.5 billion and HKD 93.4 billion respectively. This created a distinct "staggered peak" pattern, which was deeply intertwined with the fluctuation cycle of the Hang Seng Index.
Specifically, the first and third quarters coincided with periods of阶段性上涨 for the Hang Seng Index, with the third quarter even reaching an annual阶段性高点. Correspondingly, market sentiment warmed, and listed company stock prices experienced recoveries or rallies. Launching refinancing activities during such cycles, particularly overnight book-built offerings, allows companies to leverage the阶段性高位 of their stock prices to secure more favorable fundraising sizes while also capitalizing on the window of heightened market confidence to quickly attract subscription funds from institutional investors. Major top-up placements like those from BYD and Xiaomi Group in the first quarter, and the concentrated fundraising by companies like WuXi AppTec and NIO in the third quarter, exemplify precise timing of this "efficient window," ultimately driving refinancing volumes in these two quarters to annual highs.
(Data source for Hong Kong IPOs: Wind; Data source for Hong Kong refinancing: Dealogic)
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