(April 17, 2019- Hong Kong) First Capital International Finance Limited (“FC International Finance”), the wholly-owned subsidiary of First Capital Financial Group Limited (“FC Financial Group”) under China First Capital Group Limited (“CFCG” or the “Group”; stock code: 1269.HK), was admitted as a sponsor by the Securities and Futures Commission under the Securities and Futures Ordinance, as part of its type 6 (advising on corporate finance) regulated activity on April 15, 2019, therefore, it is allowed to act as a sponsor for listing applicants in initial public offering. FC International Finance is also allowed to advise on the “Codes on Takeovers and Mergers and Share Buy-backs” and to advise listed companies on the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Stock Exchange”).
According to the Securities and Futures Commission, there are only 115 institutions holding the sponsor license granted by the Securities and Futures Commission at present in Hong Kong and only 5 institutions have received the sponsor license since 2019, of which FC International Finance is the only financial institutions with the background of Hong Kong-listed company. To qualify as a sponsor, applicants are required to undergo the stringent approval and selection procedure that may take a few months. The most important criteria is that applicants, in addition to having outstanding track record in financial service provision as well as compliance and management, shall employ at least two principals (commonly known as sponsor) who should have at least 5 years of experience in institutional financing and played an important part in at least two listing projects in the previous five years, and shall have established a well-rounded team comprised of front, middle and back offices and paid up the minimum amount of share capital. Other major assessment indicators also include the appropriateness and financial soundness of applicants, and whether they have a comprehensive compliance and risk control system and detailed business plan. FC International Finance’s success in obtaining the sponsor license is a fitting testament to its considerable business experience and powerful strengths. Meanwhile, FC International Finance has also built and trained a capable investment banking team, which, as the core force in the development of boutique investment banking services, is expected to provide professional, systematic solutions for home-grown and overseas enterprises at the growing stage to meet their needs for equity financing by leveraging its extensive practical experience.
In the past few years, FC Financial Group mainly focused on providing services such as dealing in securities, underwriting and placing, financing consultancy, merger and acquisition agency, financial advisory, asset management, private equity fund management, credit financing, and migration finance. As FC International Finance is now admitted as a sponsor, the financial product line of FC Financial Group will be enriched as the financial services will also be extended and deepened. From pre-listing counseling, restructuring, strategic consulting to listing financial advisory, sponsorship, stock issuance preparation, promotion and project roadshow, introduction of institutional investors and to listed services such as one-stop professional, refined and companion integrated financial services of compliance, M&A financing, etc. Relying on the industrial advantages of "Education + Finance" of the Group, FC Financial Group will seek to unleash the synergy between its financial services business and education operation business, feature on educational financial services with services in other industries as complement. The Group is committed to become an investment banking professional who knows education the most and help all educators and educational companies to achieve their educational goals and to serve for the country's educational strategy.
Since the Group has started to set foot in the financial services business with a mission of “Finance Empowers Education, Education Lights Up Future”, the combination of three key operations, has established a trinitarians interactive business mode, which capitalised educational investment as base and both educational management service and educational financial service as cradles.. The Group is aspired to become “a globally influential financial services group focusing on education”. The Group has obtained diversified financial licenses and formed a well-established financial services system, thus the financial services business grew rapidly. During 2018, the Group was engaged in the listing of a total of 12 companies, acting as the joint global coordinator, joint bookrunner, joint lead manager, etc. In addition, First Capital Securities ranked twenty-first on Bloomberg’s list of securities dealers by IPO underwriting business in Hong Kong in 2018 in terms of the number of underwritten projects, and ranked thirtieth in terms of the amount of IPO proceeds raised. This time, FC International Finance is successfully admitted as a sponsor, means that the Group has successfully set foot in the field of IPO sponsor and has moved further towards the international capital market. This event is a milestone of the Group in the financial services business, and will further expend its platform of the financial services business.
2018 is the significant year for Mainland enterprises listing in Hong Kong. According to the statistics from the Stock Exchange, a total of 206 companies listed in Hong Kong, IPO raised a total of 287.88 billion Hong Kong dollars, which ranked the top one in the world and set a new high score since 2010. Under this trend, in 2019, First Capital International Finance will take the opportunity of being admitted as a sponsor, with the help of international capital markets and China’s multi-level capital markets and committed to obtain the access in order to entering international capital market voyage for both China and overseas small and medium-sized enterprises. This will also bring financing and listing assistance that help against the pain points and difficulties of companies to improve their fundamentals by providing feasible solutions, which enable more companies to gain a broader selection of international capital markets and achieve healthy long-term and sustainable development.
About China First Capital Group
China First Capital Group (“CFCG”; stock code: 1269.HK) is an investment holding company. Before 2014, the Group mainly engaged in the automotive parts business. Since the end of 2014, the Group has started moving into the financial services business, and providing services such as dealing in securities, underwriting and placing, financing consultancy, merger and acquisition agency, financial advisory, asset management, private equity fund management, credit financing and migration financial services. Since 2016, the Group has continued to diversify its business, with a mission of “Finance Empowers Education, Education Lights Up Future” and to establish a trinitarians interactive business mode, which capitalised educational investment as base and both educational management service and educational financial service as cradles. The Group is aspired to become “a globally influential financial services group focusing on education”. The Company is now a constituent of various indices, including the MSCI Global Standard Indexes and MSCI China All Shares Index, S&P Global BMI and S&P Global Mid Small Cap Index, FTSE Global Equity Index Series Asia Pacific ex Japan Regional Index and FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index and BBG HKSE All, and a constituent of the Hang Seng Composite Index Series, and was honorably advanced into the list of eligible securities for “Southbound Trading” under “Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect” and “Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect”.
