Key Takeaways:
Seyond has become only the third firm to successfully go public in Hong Kong using the stock exchange's 4-year-old SPAC listing program
The milestone came nearly a year after the maker of sensors used in autonomous driving signed its deal to merge with a special purpose acquisition company
Patience is a virtue, certainly for companies seeking backdoor listings in Hong Kong using the stock exchange's 4-year-old special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) mechanism.
Last Wednesday, Seyond Holdings Ltd. (2665.HK), a U.S.-based maker of light detection and raging (LiDAR) sensors, key components for autonomous driving, became only the third firm to successfully go public in Hong Kong through a merger with a SPAC, a process known as de-SPAC. And it's no understatement to say that the journey for the company was long and arduous, even as SPAC listings are often described as faster and easier than conventional IPOs.
The company reached the milestone almost exactly a year after signing a deal to merge with a SPAC named TechStar Acquisition Corp. Such companies are basically shells with no real business and simply serve as vehicles for real companies to go public by inheriting their listing status through reverse mergers, bypassing many of the cumbersome requirements for traditional IPOs. SPAC deals have boomed in the U.S. by luring cash-strapped businesses, especially tech startups, with their relatively hassle-free and less expensive process.
Seyond originally planned to list in the U.S. in 2023 but decided to try its luck in Hong Kong through the stock exchange's SPAC-listing program rolled out at the beginning of 2022.
That shift probably wasn't a difficult choice for Seyond as the regulatory climate in the U.S. towards China-linked companies was growing increasingly hostile amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing. Technology has become an especially sensitive area as concerns about national security add to the U.S.-Sino economic ...
