MiniMax Group, the second so-called Chinese “AI tiger” to go public, rocketed 78% higher on its first day of Hong Kong trade on Friday, outshining fellow tiger Zhipu AI as investors clamoured for a piece of a startup with popular consumer apps.
The listing by MiniMax, which raised HK$4.8 billion ($620 million) in its IPO to fund research and development, follows a solid 13% climb in Thursday’s debut by Zhipu AI.
MiniMax shares were last trading at HK$294 per share, versus the offer price of HK$165.00, valuing the company at about $11.6 billion. At one point, the shares rose as high as HK$299.
“MiniMax’s focus on the consumer market appealed more to investors seeking high-growth opportunities, whereas Zhipu’s enterprise- and government-oriented model was perceived as more stable but less exciting in a market driven by hype,” said Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at tech research firm Omdia.
Investors were also attracted by the strong performance of the company’s open source foundation models in key benchmarks, he added.
ZHIPU SURGES TOO
Founded in early 2022 by former SenseTime executive Yan Junjie, Shanghai-based MiniMax develops artificial intelligence models that can process text, audio, images, video and music. Popular apps include Hailuo AI, a video generation tool, and Talkie, an AI character interaction app that enables users to engage with AI-powered virtual personas.
“This is only the beginning,” Yan said at the firm’s listing ceremony. “We look forward to the next four years, hoping the pace of technological progress in the AI industry will remain as fast.”
Its cornerstone investors include Alibaba, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Boyu Capital, a Hong Kong-based alternative asset management firm, as well as Mirae Asset.
Zhipu AI, flagged by OpenAI as a Chinese AI startup gaining significant ground in government contracts, climbed a further 15% on Friday. It raised HK$4.35 billion in its IPO and is currently valued at around $7.4 billion.
With AI dominating investor interest worldwide, expectations for Chinese AI listings and other deals are high, although China’s most well-known AI firm, DeepSeek, has yet to indicate any IPO plans.
Huawei’s AI server spin-off xFusion has hired Citic Securities in preparation for a mainland IPO, while memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies and Baidu’s AI chip arm Kunlunxin are planning listings too, Reuters has reported.
Semiconductor specialists OmniVision Integrated Circuits and GigaDevice Semiconductor, both listed in Shanghai, are also due to commence trading in Hong Kong next week after secondary offerings.
($1 = 7.7946 Hong Kong dollars)
Reuters
