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UBS Drops From Chinese LGBTQ Dating App Blued IPO

UBS Drops From Chinese LGBTQ Dating App Blued IPO

(Bloomberg) -- UBS Bank AG is no longer working on the U.S. initial public offering of the owner of Blued, China’s biggest LGBTQ dating app, after gauging the market, joining a number of other banks in curbing work on some U.S. listings by Chinese firms.

The Swiss bank had been involved in the IPO until recently, people familiar with the matter said, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. However UBS’s name did not appear on BlueCity Holdings Ltd.’s filing on Tuesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The bank did not agree with the timing of the public filing after gauging initial investor interest, one of the people said. A spokesman for UBS declined to comment. Blued declined to comment in an emailed statement. There is no indication that the decision had anything to do with LGBTQ issues.

Blued lost Credit Suisse earlier this year after the bank halted work on the IPO for unknown reasons, Bloomberg News reported. Major banks have been scaling back their work on some U.S. IPOs, particularly small ones, by Chinese firms as concerns mounted last year about investor demand and deal sizes shrank. Other companies to have lost banks working on their floats include Lizhi Inc., Canaan Inc. and EHang Holdings Ltd.

The spectacular downfall of Luckin Coffee Inc, a poster child for Chinese startups, amid an accounting scandal in April added to the negative sentiment around Chinese listings in America. Rising tensions between the U.S. and China, which have extended to Chinese companies’ access to U.S. capital markets, have also cast a shadow on the flow of deals.

However, the most recent U.S. IPOs by firms from the Asian nation have mostly done well. Burning Rock Biotech Ltd. has risen 48% from its offer price while crowd-sourced delivery platform Dada Nexus Ltd. is trading 5% above its IPO price. The gains stand in contrast to a string of lackluster U.S. debuts by Chinese firms last year.

UPCOMING LISTINGS:

  • JD.com Inc.
    • Hong Kong exchange
    • Size $3.9b
    • Listing June 18
    • Bank of America, UBS, CLSA
  • China Bohai Bank
    • Hong Kong exchange
    • Size about $2b
    • Pre-marketing from June 22
    • CCBI, Haitong, ABC International, CLSA
  • SK Biopharmaceuticals
    • Korea stock exchange
    • Size up to $805m
    • Pricing June 19, listing around July 2
    • NH Investment & Securities, Citi, Morgan Stanley
  • Hygeia Healthcare Holdings Co.
    • Hong Kong exchange
    • Size up to $286m
    • Pricing June 19, listing June 29
    • Morgan Stanley, Haitong
  • Kangji Medical Holdings Ltd.
    • Hong Kong exchange
    • Size up to $404m
    • Pricing June 19, trading June 29
    • Goldman Sachs, Citic Securities, Bank of America
  • Genetron Holdings
    • Nasdaq exchange
    • Size up to $176m
    • Pricing June 18, trading June 19
    • Credit Suisse, CICC
  • Smoore International Holdings
    • Hong Kong exchange
    • Size at least $800m
    • Pre-marketing from June 15
    • CLSA
  • Zhenro Services Group
    • Hong Kong exchange
    • Pre-marketing from June 15
    • CCB International, BNP Paribas
  • Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical Group
    • Hong Kong exchange
    • Pre-marketing from June 15
    • Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley

More ECM situations we are following:

  • Far East Horizon Ltd. is seeking $300 million in convertible bonds due in 2025, according to terms of the deal obtained by Bloomberg News
  • Yes Bank Ltd. is planning to raise at least 80 billion rupees ($1 billion) in a public offering of shares to boost its capital, according to people familiar with the matter
  • Noritsu Koki is offering 2.6m shares in JMDC, according to terms of the deal obtained by Bloomberg News
  • China Pacific Insurance Group Co. gained as much as 2.1% on its first day of trading on the London Stock Exchange, after raising $1.8 billion from investors in the biggest European stock offering ever from a Chinese company
  • Institutional investors are bidding for JD.com’s Hong Kong shares before this week’s debut at slightly more than the listing price
  • Line Corp. is offering 2.093m shares in Freee KK, according to terms of the deal obtained by Bloomberg News

See also:

  • Asia ECM Weekly Agenda
  • IPO data
  • U.S. ECM Watch
  • EU ECM Watch
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