SenseTime plans to relaunch its Hong Kong IPO on Monday

December 17, 2021: -On Monday, Chinese artificial intelligence startup SenseTime Group plans to keep its Hong Kong initial public offering at $767 million as it considers relaunching the withdrawn deal as early. Three people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

On Monday, a spokesperson for SenseTime, which withdrew its Hong Kong IPO after it was put on an investment blacklist by the administration of U.S. President Biden, refused to comment to Reuters. The people could not be identified as the information is not public.

The U.S. Treasury added SenseTime to a list of “Chinese military-industrial complex companies,” which accuses it of having developed a facial recognition program that can determine a target’s ethnicity, with a particular focus on identifying ethnic Uyghurs.

SenseTime did not expect the decision; sources told Reuters at the time and came as the bookbuild increasing $767 million was being finalized.

The company was updating its prospectus to include the investment ban in its risk factor sections; sources had told Reuters.

SenseTime could launch the deal to raise the same amount as the initial Hong Kong IPO, they said, which is pending approval from the Hong Kong exchange of the amended risk disclosures on Monday.

The timetable and deal size could change, the sources added. SenseTime had planned to sell 1.5 billion shares in a price range of HK$3.85 to HK3.99 each, according to its initial filings.