Maples Advises on Multiple High-Profile Hong Kong Listings to Close 2022

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Maples and Calder, the Maples Group's law firm, is pleased to announce that its Asia Corporate practice advised on the completion of six Hong Kong listings in December 2022. The recent listings include Huafang Group Inc, Weilong Delicious Global Holdings Ltd, Kanzhun Limited, TechStar Acquisition, STAR CM and Kingsoft Cloud. Impressively, throughout 2022 the team advised on a total of 25 Hong Kong listings which raised a combined net proceeds of approximately US$1 billion. 

Matt Roberts, Partner and head of the Asia Corporate practice, commented "We're delighted to achieve a number of successful closings by the year-end.  While it has been a challenging year for capital markets, we are seeing encouraging signs of a more robust outlook for 2023, in light of the continued easing of COVID-19 restrictions in Hong Kong and the Mainland. We are grateful for the continued trust and support from clients and peers over the past year and we look forward to supporting more corporate transactions across the region in 2023." 

Notably, the firm's Asia practice recently retained its top-tier ranking in Chambers and Partners Asia - Pacific Guide 2023 with one client describing the firm as "equipped with the most comprehensive service capabilities among its peers". For the last 3 years, the firm's Asia Corporate practice has been selected to act on some of the Asia's largest and most notable/innovative IPOs with its team earning a reputation as the go-to offshore firm in the region. 

More details on the recent HK listings can be found below.  

• Huafang Group Inc ("Huafang"): 
  The firm advised Huafang on its IPO of 46,000,000 ordinary shares and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange ("HKEX"). The offering closed on 12 December and raised approximately HK$128.8 million. Huafang is an internet company in China, offering video and audio based live entertainment and social networking services.
  
  Corporate Partner, Richard Spooner with assistance from Associate, Vivian Lee advised Huafang on the Cayman Islands legal aspects of the transaction. The Group's Fund Services business acted as the Cayman Islands Share Registrar, and its team comprised Eastern Fong, Regional Head of the Group's fund services business in Asia and Senior Vice President Christy Poon.

• Weilong Delicious Global Holdings Ltd ("Weilong"): 
  The firm advised Weilong on its IPO of 96,397,000 shares and listing on the HKEX. The offering closed on 15 December and raised approximately HK$1.02 billion. Weilong is a leading spicy snack food company which is based in Luohe city in the central Chinese province of Henan.
  
  Corporate Partner, Juno Huang with assistance from Associate, Jessica Zhan advised Weilong on the Cayman Islands legal aspects of the transaction. The Group's Fund Services business acted as the Cayman Islands Share Registrar, and its team comprised Eastern Fong, Regional Head of the Group's fund services business in Asia and Senior Vice President Christy Poon.

• Kanzhun Limited ("Kanzhun"): 
  The firm advised Kanzhun, a company listed on NASDAQ from June 2021, on its dual primary listing by way of introduction of its Class A Ordinary Shares on the HKEX. Shares in the company commenced trading on the HKEX on 22 December. Kanzhun operates an online recruitment platform, BOSS Zhipin which is the largest one in China in terms of average monthly active user. 
  
  Corporate Partner, Richard Spooner with assistance from Associate, Vivian Lee advised Kanzhun on the Cayman Islands legal aspects of the transaction. 
  
  
• TechStar Acquisition Corporation ("TechStar Acquisition"):
  The firm advised TechStar Acquisition on its SPAC listing on the HKEX. The offering closed on 23 December and raised approximately US$128.5 million.  

TechStar Acquisition is the fifth Hong Kong SPAC listed on the HKEX, notably, the firm has acted on three out of five Hong Kong SPAC listings to date since HKEX updated its listing rules to permit SPAC listings on 1 January.

Corporate Partner Matt Roberts with assistance from Legal Manager Charmaine Chow advised TechStar Acquisition on the Cayman Islands legal aspects of the transaction.

• STAR CM Holdings Limited ("STAR CM"):
  The firm advised STAR CM in relation to its IPO of 14,731,600 shares and the listing on the HKEX. The offering closed on 29 December and raised approximately HK$319.6 million.  STAR CM owns and operates a large library of Chinese film IPs and are a music IP creator and operator in China.

Corporate Partner, Everton Robertson with assistance from Associate, Jessica Zhan advised STAR CM on the Cayman Islands legal aspects of the transaction. The Group's Fund Services business acted as the Cayman Islands Share Registrar, and its team comprised Eastern Fong, Regional Head of the Group's fund services business in Asia and Senior Vice President Christy Poon.

• Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited ("Kingsoft Cloud"):
  The firm advised Kingsoft Cloud, a company listed on NASDAQ, on its dual primary listing, by way of introduction, of its ordinary shares on the HKEX. Shares in the company commenced trading on the HKEX on 30 December. Kingsoft Cloud offers various cloud services to customers in strategically selected verticals.
  
  Corporate Partner, Richard Spooner with assistance from Associate, Jessica Zhan advised Kingsoft Cloud on the Cayman Islands legal aspects of the transaction.