Identify the recipient and the date
Attach four labels to every amount: currency, recipient, whether expenses have been deducted, and document date. A number without these labels is not ready for a comparable-company research table.
An estimate based on an offer-price range differs from the outcome after pricing. Proceeds from company-issued shares differ from proceeds received by existing shareholders selling their shares. Read this alongside our guide to Hong Kong listing filings. This article does not count today's new listings or equate an application with admission to trading.
What the HKEX disclosure framework helps clarify
The HKEX Guide for New Listing Applicants checked for this article is the July 2026 edition. Chapter 3.12 calls for net-proceeds and use-of-funds disclosure under different offer-price and over-allotment scenarios. Sale-share disclosure should identify selling-shareholder proceeds and clarify that they do not belong to the applicant.
The reading lesson is to locate the recipient in the original document before using a headline. Offering size, post-listing market capitalisation, net funds raised by the company and revenue are not interchangeable measures.
A fictional calculation to separate the flows
Assume a fictional company issues eight million new shares at HK$10 each, while an existing shareholder sells two million shares. Assume another HK$8 million in relevant company-borne expenses is deducted from the company's new-share proceeds. This editorial example excludes tax differences, foreign exchange and over-allotment; it represents no real listing.
| Item | Calculation | Amount, HK$ million |
|---|---|---|
| Company gross proceeds from new shares | 8 million shares × HK$10 | 80 |
| Shareholder gross proceeds from existing shares | 2 million shares × HK$10 | 20 |
| Combined offering size | 80 + 20 | 100 |
| Assumed company-borne expenses | Set for this example | 8 |
| Net proceeds to the company | 80 − 8 | 72 |
The offering totals HK$100 million, but net proceeds to the company are HK$72 million in this example. The shareholder's HK$20 million is gross, not personal net proceeds after expenses. Company expenses should not simply be deducted again from that separate flow.
The purpose is not to suggest a normal fee rate. It is to show how the word “raised” can conceal different recipients and calculations. Reconcile real transactions to their formal disclosures rather than applying this example's expense percentage to other companies.
Net proceeds are not unrestricted spending money
Next examine the plan. Funds allocated to debt repayment, equipment or future R&D should not all be treated as money immediately available for additional marketing. Their use may also fall in different periods.
Create a separate allocation table: purpose, planned amount, timing, prerequisites and source document. For a deep-tech company, ask what expansion actually means: land, equipment, commissioning or people? Is the sequence clear, and where would any remaining funding come from? These are research questions, not conclusions about a particular issuer.
Likewise, estimating operating runway requires more than dividing net proceeds by one month's expenses. Consider existing cash, operating receipts and payments, debt maturities and stated allocations. Identify the data that remain unavailable.
Keep subsequent documents connected
Do not freeze a number permanently on the day a headline appears. A useful research table distinguishes estimated figures, final disclosures and subsequent updates, retaining the document and reason for each change.
Extract assumptions from the prospectus. Reconcile the basis when pricing or allotment results appear. If later announcements change the intended use, update the original record. Leave unsupported amounts unverified rather than filling gaps for apparent completeness. Do not assume an over-allotment option has been exercised or that all associated proceeds belong to the company.
Why this matters in an early-stage Jimhang Capital discussion
A startup need not be close to listing to adopt the same discipline: how much financing is proposed, who contributes it, which costs must be paid, and what milestone the remaining resources should support. Round size is no substitute for engineering progress, customer evidence or a business model.
Jimhang Capital's research into Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area connects capital-market figures to founders' actual work. A discussion can examine whether financing materials are clear and whether the use of funds matches research and delivery plans. Public-market examples are not presented as Jimhang investments or listing-advisory achievements.
Contact Justin Zhan with a non-confidential account of your stage, next milestone and intended use of funds. See the firm overview and Hong Kong ITVF's two investment models.
This is a public-document reading method and fictional calculation, checked on 7 October 2026. It is not personalised securities advice, a valuation opinion or a determination of listing feasibility. Seek professional advice for a specific transaction.