Unitree IPO frenzy leaves Chinese retail investors with 1-in-5,500 odds
While Unitree Robotics’ early backers are poised for a windfall in one of China’s most closely watched technology initial public offerings (IPOs), retail investors are scrambling for a tiny chance of securing shares. Nearly 9.8 million accounts competed in the Hangzhou-based robot maker’s online subscription process on Monday, fighting for just 9.7 million shares, its filings in the evening…
Unitree Robotics' initial public offering (IPO) has generated frenzy among Chinese retail investors, who are facing daunting odds of securing shares. Nearly 9.8 million accounts participated in the online subscription process, competing for just 9.7 million shares. The final online allocation rate was a mere 0.018 percent, meaning that roughly one winning lot is awarded for every 5,500 applications.
Each winning lot consists of 500 shares, and investors' chances are determined by their eligible Shanghai-market holdings. Winners are chosen at random. Due to the high demand, valid online subscriptions surged to 53.64 billion shares, or 8,288.82 times the initial 6.47 million shares reserved for online investors. This triggered a clawback mechanism, increasing the retail tranche to 9.7 million shares.
The odds of acquiring Unitree shares are considerably lower compared to other recent technology listings. For instance, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) had a final online allocation rate of around 0.47 percent in its July IPO, which received over 9.4 million applications. Moore Threads Technology and MetaX Integrated Circuits recorded final rates of approximately 0.036 percent and 0.033 percent, respectively.
Unitree's low allocation rate is a result of intense retail demand and a relatively small pool of shares available to individual investors. Out of the 40.45 million shares on offer, 20 percent were allocated to strategic investors, and after the clawback, about 24 percent went to online investors, while roughly 56 percent went to offline professional investors.
The IPO is expected to raise about 6.1 billion yuan (US$904 million), valuing Unitree at 60.99 billion yuan. With an offer price of 150.80 yuan per share, Unitree is valued at an eye-watering 219.23 times earnings and 35.89 times sales, significantly higher than the price-to-sales multiples of other listed robot makers such as UBTech and Dobot. The selection process will take place on Tuesday, with winners announced on Wednesday.
Written by urgent.news from SCMP Tech's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
