SenseTime files draft prospectus for share sale plan

Artificial intelligence technology developer SenseTime Group Ltd. filed a draft prospectus on Nov. 22 with The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Ltd.

The company said it is applying for the planned listing with a weighted voting rights structure under Chapter 8A of listing rules and satisfies the market capitalization requirement of at least HK$40 billion.

The joint sponsors of the offering are CICC, Haitong International and HSBC.

The development follows a report published by South China Morning Post on Nov. 19 which stated that Hong Kong-headquartered SenseTime received approval from the Hong Kong bourse's listing committee for the flotation.

The company was also earlier said to be working on plans to file for an IPO worth up to $2 billion. In March 2020, the company reportedly decided to postpone its Hong Kong IPO and was planning to seek private funding instead as the COVID-19 pandemic began.

SenseTime plans to use about 60% of the net proceeds raised from the offering for research and development purposes while also investing in expanding computing abilities and bolstering its AI chip design capabilities.

The tech company revealed that it implemented "comprehensive internal policies and measures on protection of cybersecurity, data privacy and personal information" in line with China's personal information protection laws and data security laws.

SenseTime said there have been no incidents of data or personal information leakage or infringement of data protection or privacy laws that could adversely affect its business. It has also not been involved in any probes or put under cybersecurity review by the relevant regulatory authorities, nor received any inquiry, notice, warning or sanctions in this regard.

The filing comes shortly after the Cyberspace Administration of China put forward strict measures for companies that handle data relevant to national security, including cybersecurity inspections of those firms looking to list in Hong Kong.