Legend, the parent of China’s largest computer manufacturer, Lenovo, made its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today, its shares initially trading marginally above their purchase price.
The Legend listing raised US$1.96 billion – a share of which will be used to fund a massive marketing push of the brand in Asia and other markets, where Lenovo is planning a stronger focus at retail level. Already seen as the leading innovator in Windows OS systems it is a natural competitor to Apple.
About 60 per cent of the funds raised will be used to invest in “high-growth consumer and service businesses” and for private equity investment.
Shares in Legend Holdings Corp were priced at HK$42.98 in the IPO and traded at $43 on debut – an insignificant rise, but for the fact the Hong Kong stock market’s Hang Seng Index shed 2.7 per cent in line with global jitters over Greece’s debt crisis.
One can only wonder the value growth had the market overall been stable in opening trading.
With a large proportion of the IPO offer allocated to institutional investors, the allocation to private ma and pa investors had to be massively scaled after being oversubscribed by 45 times.
Institutional investors were also scaled back leading to them buying shares on the open market to try to rebuild their desired holdings.
Liu Chuanzi, Legend’s chairman and founder, was present for a ceremony at the Hong Kong stock exchange this morning to mark the Legend listing. He was apparently unphased by the Greek impact on listing day.
“I am calm because we do not pay too much attention to the ups and downs of the stock market. What we care about is our long-term future,” he said.