Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Archives - International Finance

IF Insights: The real story behind Hong Kong’s piping-hot IPO machine

International Finance Business Desk — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 00:00:35 +0000

Hong Kong’s stock exchange has spent 2026 doing something it had not managed since before the pandemic, which is pulling large companies back to its listing hall in volume.

Companies raised HKUSD 210.2 billion, roughly USD 26.8 billion, through initial public offerings (IPOs) in the first six months of the year. That is 92% more than the same period in 2025, spread across 87 new listings, close to double the number a year earlier. It is the strongest first half in five years on both measures.

The city finished second in the global fundraising table, behind Nasdaq, which was carried by SpaceX and a run of artificial intelligence (AI) flotations.

Accountancy firms count the deals slightly differently depending on whether transfers and small listings are stripped out, so you will see figures of 84, 85 or 87 listings in the same period. The direction is not in dispute.

What makes 2026 unusual is not the money already raised. It is how many companies are still waiting.

Two engines are doing most of the work
The first is the A+H listing, in which a company already quoted in Shanghai or Shenzhen sells a second tranche of shares in Hong Kong. Some 24 of of these were completed in the first half of 2026.

That single half year total beat the whole of 2025, which itself set a record. These deals are far bigger than the average Hong Kong flotation, which is why they dominate the fundraising totals.

The second engine is Chapter 18C, the specialist technology route the exchange introduced in 2023 for companies that are commercialising deep technology and may not meet conventional profit tests.

Thirteen such companies listed in the first half of this year, against eight in the previous three years put together. Between them, A+H and specialist technology deals accounted for more than 70% of everything raised.

Behind both is a policy push. Beijing has been encouraging mainland companies to raise foreign currency offshore, and Hong Kong is the venue that does not carry American political risk.

The structure suits issuers too. A Shenzhen quote gives access to a deep retail investor base at home, while an H share line brings in global institutions.

The deals that set the tone
The year’s defining transaction came on July 30, when Zhongji Innolight, a Chinese maker of the optical transceivers that move data around AI data centres, raised HKUSD 53.4 billion, about USD 6.81 billion. That is Hong Kong’s largest share sale since Alibaba’s secondary listing in 2019 and the second largest in Asia this year.

The book was heavily subscribed. Retail orders came in at 16.8 times the shares available and the international tranche at 9.7 times, with more than 30 cornerstone investors including BlackRock, Temasek and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Even so, the company priced at HKUSD 980, below the HKUSD 1,010 maximum it had marketed, and the shares fell as much as 10% on the first morning before closing around 4% down. A global wobble in AI shares had begun during the bookbuild, and Innolight’s Shenzhen line fell harder than its Hong Kong one.

Before that, Luxshare Precision had raised about USD 3.1 billion on 6 July, briefly the year’s largest. Earlier in the year the Shanghai AI developer MiniMax raised HKUSD 4.8 billion, and Biren Technology opened the year’s listing calendar on January 2.

The queue is at a record and it is jammed
As at 26 June, 443 listing applications had been publicly filed, a 52% increase since the start of the year. Among them were 116 A+H candidates and 145 technology companies. Advisers put the total number of companies waiting at more than 430, the fullest pipeline the exchange has handled since at least 2021.

The bottleneck sits on the mainland side. Since March 2023, a Chinese company cannot be scheduled for a Hong Kong listing hearing until the China Securities Regulatory Commission has cleared its offshore filing. Applications lapse after six months, so a slow clearance forces the company to refresh its accounts and start again.

In early July, more than 30 applicants were within a fortnight of that deadline, including the supermarket chain Qiandama and the battery maker Eve Energy.

Approval is also selective. Advisers say sectors aligned with national priorities, meaning large AI models, robotics, semiconductors and biotech, move through faster than consumer names.

One Hong Kong accountancy firm reported that of 12 clients that filed this year, only two had secured the mainland nod. A lapsed application is not a rejection, and many eventual listings have lapsed at least once, but it does mean the headline queue overstates how much can realistically price this year.

The rulebook was rewritten in July
On July 24 the exchange published the conclusions of the first phase of its listing framework competitiveness review, and the rule changes took effect the same day.

The most significant change lowers the market capitalisation threshold for companies with weighted voting rights, or dual class shares, to HKUSD 20 billion from HKUSD 40 billion, and allows a voting ratio of up to 20 to 1 for the largest applicants rather than the previous cap of 10 to 1.

That brings Hong Kong closer to American practice, which is where founder led technology companies have historically gone to keep control.

The exchange also extended confidential filing to every applicant, not just a subset, eased the path for companies already listed overseas to add a Hong Kong line, and broadened acceptance of US accounting standards.

Companies with live applications may switch into the new chapters without withdrawing and refiling. A second consultation covering the growth board, the blank cheque company regime and continuing obligations is promised later.

Alongside the rule changes, the exchange has been trying to widen the geography of its issuer base.

It now recognises 20 overseas exchanges for secondary listing purposes, having added Thailand most recently, and runs a pre application guidance channel for technology companies. Chief executive Bonnie Chan said in April that more than 10 international companies were somewhere in the pipeline.

That is a small number set against 443 filings, and almost all of this year’s money has come from mainland issuers, which accounted for close to 99% of proceeds in the first half. Diversifying away from that concentration remains the exchange’s hardest unfinished job.

What happens next
The test of the second half is Shein. The fast fashion group, founded in China and headquartered in Singapore, cleared its mainland filing on 10 July and passed its Hong Kong listing hearing days later, after earlier attempts to float in New York and London stalled.

It is targeting a valuation of USD 30 billion to USD 40 billion and could launch from mid August, with some prospective cornerstone investors pushing for closer to USD 30 billion.

That is a severe reset. Private rounds valued Shein at USD 98.2 billion in 2022 and USD 64 billion by 2024. Its draft prospectus showed a USD 99 million quarterly loss, caused partly by a one off accounting charge of USD 328 million and partly by weaker sales after Washington scrapped the duty exemption on low value parcels. One person close to the deal said the company is pricing to support the shares afterwards rather than to maximise the headline number.

Forecasts for the full year cluster around HKUSD 300 billion to HKUSD 320 billion and roughly 160 listings, which would leave Hong Kong in the global top three.

The risks are visible enough. Appetite for AI hardware has cooled since June, when Washington added Innolight to a list of companies suspected of military links, a designation the company rejects.

Mainland mega deals such as CXMT’s USD 8.6 billion Shanghai flotation are pulling liquidity in a different direction. And a market this dependent on two sectors will feel any sentiment shift quickly.

For now, though, the American route for Chinese issuers is all but shut. Only one Chinese company raised money on a US exchange in the first half of this year, taking in USD 12 million, against 39 companies and USD 886 million a year earlier. That flow has to go somewhere, and it is going to Hong Kong.

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Brazil sees institutional investors enter its real estate market

International Finance Business Desk — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 11:12:00 +0000

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is now part of an investment consortium to partner with Brazilian real estate developer SKR for a rental project in Sao Paulo. The consortium comprises Greystar Real Estate Partners and Cyrela Brazil.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board manages around $456.7 billion in pension assets. These assets managed are on behalf of 20 million contributors and beneficiaries of the plan, media reports said.

The consortium along with SKR will develop, own and operate a rental multifamily project in Brazil. Hilary Spann, Managing Director, Head of Real Estate Americas, CPP Investments, told the media, “CPP Investments continues to see increasing demand in the rental multifamily sector in Brazil, which will particularly benefit developers of modern, high-quality residential space. We are pleased to venture with SKR on this project and we look forward to expanding our purpose-built multifamily portfolio in Brazil.”

It is reported that the project will be unique to the Brazilian skyline. The project is expected to be delivered in 2023. The pandemic stalled Brazil’s real estate market growth in the last few months. As of November, the market remained fragile with home prices in Sao Paulo rising by measly 0.21 percent in the third quarter of 2020.

However, demand is slowly improving due to historic low interest rates following the pandemic’s slump. Sao Paulo State Housing Union recorded 4,341 new residential units that were sold in the city. This was up by 32.3 percent from the previous year, media reports said.

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Piramal, Canada pension plan launch $600 mn renewable energy fund

International Finance Desk — Wed, 08 May 2019 07:00:54 +0000

India-based Piramal Enterprises and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have signed a preliminary agreement to co-sponsor a renewable energy fund or Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT).

Under the terms of the agreement, the renewable energy fund InvIT will have an initial corpus of $600 million with an option to increase the funds further, Chairman Ajay Piramal said in a statement. CPPIB will contribute $360 million while Piramal will finance $90 million to the renewable energy investment trust corpus.

Both companies being the co-sponsors of renewable energy investment trust will cumulatively hold 75 percent of the units. Of the units, CPPIB and Piramal will hold 60 percent and 15 percent respectively. However, Piramal will be the sole investment manager and project manager for renewable energy investment trust, according to a local media report.

The proposed InvIT might be a great opportunity for both companies in the future. “The renewable energy sector is at an inflection point and is witnessing significant consolidation, the pace of which is likely to increase in the near future. We believe that the timing is therefore opportune for aggregating assets in this sector given that the existing players are willing sellers in light of a constrained capital market environment – both debt and equity,” Piramal said.

Headquartered in Toronto, CPPIB is Canada’s largest pension fund with $368.5 billion in assets under management.

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Massive investments to amplify India logistics real estate

International Finance Desk — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 06:19:54 +0000

Thanks to fresh investments, supply and interest this sector, the Indian logistics industry is set to reach the next level. Although India is down the rungs on the Logistics Performance Index (India stood 35^th among 160 countries in World Bank’s 2016 study) in comparison to some of the top regional markets, launch of GST and huge investments from global players will help the sector grow manifold.

Srinivas N, Managing Director – Industrial Services, JLL India

Interestingly, logistics in the Asia Pacific region is performing well in comparison to other global counterparts. According to the 2016 World Bank survey on trade logistics, top regional markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan feature near the top of a global league of 160 countries in terms of logistics performance, alongside markets in Europe and the United States.

Based on JLL estimates, the total amount of stock in seven largest logistics markets in the region currently totals more than 1.5 billion sqm (gross floor area), double the size of the 795 million sqm in the United States and significantly more than the 260 million sqm in Europe. It is more appropriate, however, to look at logistics stock at a local level, as regional economies are at vastly different stages of development.

As a share of population, each person in Australia and Singapore has 1-2 sqm of stock on average, as compared to average stock level per person in South Korea, Hong Kong, China and Europe (which is in the range of 0.4-0.7 sqm). It is important to note that while the Indian logistics stock per person is miniscule, it is set to grow as the ‘Make in India’ programme and the proposed 35 multi-modal logistics parks (MMLPs) are going to play a vital role in the times ahead.

The warehousing sector in India has already seen CAGR of 20% from 2014 to 2017, fuelled by economic revival, growth of its e-commerce and the third party logistics industries as well as implementation of GST. The existing stock has a potential to grow at an even faster rate going forward, at least until 2022. Investment in infrastructure is also expected to play a significant role, as large planned investments such as MMLPs, dedicated freight corridors (DFC), etc., in road, rails, ports and airways across emerging India will bolster trade – and, consequently, warehousing demand.

Subsequently, investors are now attracted by strong occupier demand for logistics properties, and the value proposition of interesting yields compared to other forms of traditional real estate. Direct real estate transaction volumes in Asia-Pacific’s industrial sector totalled USD 13.8 billion in 2016, based on data from Real Capital Analytics (RCA). The sector accounted for about 12% of the region’s total volumes between 2011 and 2016.

Although India and emerging South-East Asia accounted for less than 3% of volumes in these transactions, the potential for growth is phenomenal. This is already evident in some of the recent investment trends in H12017, which has accounted for nearly USD 2 billion in a phased manner in the coming years.

While on one hand, the three-step deal between Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and IndoSpace accounts for an investment of USD 1.3 billion, on the other, Ascendas- Singbridge is also involved in a two-stage acquisition of six warehouses (totalling 0.83 millon sft) from Arshiya, a Mumbai based logistics and supply chain company for INR 534 crore.

Additionally, Ascendas-Singbridge has also set up a joint venture (JV) with industrial properties developer FirstSpaceRealty christened as ‘Ascendas FirstSpace’ with an objective of invest and build around 15 million sq ft. of industrial and logistic space over the next five years. With so much happening in the sector, logistics real estate presents an attractive alternative for investors and enables them to enter or exit the Indian market in a much faster and efficient way.

Srinivas N is Managing Director – Industrial Services at JLL India

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