Automotive-grade AI chip company Black Sesame announced on the evening of May 8 that its share placement fundraising plan, initiated in March 2026, has finally been completed. According to the announcement, the company allotted and issued 33,544,600 new shares at HK$18.88 per share to subscriber Infini Global Master Fund, raising net proceeds of approximately HK$632.4 million.

However, behind this seemingly ordinary fundraising lies an unusual situation: the placement agreement was terminated just nine days after signing. This timing coincided with a joint investigation storm sweeping through Hong Kong's financial circles by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). Notably, the subscriber involved is hedge fund Infini Capital, which was implicated in the investigation. Furthermore, the placement price represented a discount of approximately 2.13% to the market price at the time. As of today, the secondary market share price has fallen to HK$18.04, meaning the subscriber faced an immediate paper loss on the issuance date. With multiple points of concern, the true nature of this fundraising warrants deeper investigation.

Placement Agent's "Sudden Exit": A Coincidence Amid Regulatory Storm? On March 9, 2026, Black Sesame announced it had signed a placement agreement with China International Capital Corporation (CICC) and Huatai International, planning to place approximately 33.54 million shares at HK$18.88 per share to the subscriber, with expected proceeds of about HK$633 million. However, merely nine days later on March 18, the company announced that the placement agents had terminated the placement agreement.

This timing is highly sensitive. Just days prior, around March 13, the Hong Kong ICAC and SFC launched a joint operation codenamed "Fuse," raiding the Hong Kong offices of CITIC Securities and Guotai Junan International and seizing related documents. This action was described by media as the largest financial industry raid in Hong Kong since 2017. Not only were the two Chinese brokerages investigated, but hedge fund Infini Capital was also subject to the probe.

Market information suggests the investigation involves senior executives suspected of exchanging confidential information for bribes. Although Black Sesame's announcement attributed the termination of the placement to "commercial reasons," unrelated to the anti-corruption storm, the fact that the placement agents hastily withdrew within days of the operation's exposure, for a transaction deeply tied to Infini Capital, makes this "coincidence" difficult for the market to dismiss entirely.

Subscriber's "Identity Mystery": The Veil Over Infini Capital The subscriber for this fundraising, Infini Global Master Fund, is managed by Infini Capital Management Limited. This hedge fund, which was raided during the investigation storm, also holds a "business card" from the Middle East.

According to the announcement, Infini Capital also established Infini Capital Management (ME) Limited, which is licensed by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). This means Infini Capital possesses licensed operational qualifications in the Abu Dhabi financial hub, indicating a degree of international background for its funding sources and business layout. Middle Eastern capital has been active in global technology investment in recent years, particularly in areas like AI, autonomous driving, and chips, which aligns strategically with Black Sesame's core business direction.

However, a Middle Eastern capital background is not equivalent to a "free pass." According to market information, Infini Capital founder Qian Tao is known for directly negotiating placement deals with relevant companies, "crossing the line" into territory typically dominated by investment banks. More notably, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley did not onboard Infini Capital as a client due to "Know Your Customer" rules, while JPMorgan and UBS severed their prime brokerage relationships with the firm months ago. The collective "avoidance" by these global top-tier investment banks makes it difficult to completely dispel market concerns about the firm's compliance status, even with Middle Eastern capital backing.

As for Qian Tao himself, his LinkedIn profile lists only two positions: founder of Infini Capital and founder of Hong Kong Bulls. According to Hong Kong SFC information, he was previously licensed at Morgan Stanley for less than a year. Market information indicates that to attract funds, he promised investors a 100% guarantee against investment losses and charged performance fees as high as 50%.

When such a hedge fund—rejected by multiple top investment banks, under regulatory investigation, yet possessing Middle Eastern licenses and an international strategic layout—becomes the sole subscriber for a multi-billion Hong Kong dollar share placement by a Hong Kong-listed company, questions arise about the compliance, authenticity, and potential legal risks of this fundraising.

Pricing and Share Price Inversion: Questioning Subscriber's "Immediate Paper Loss" Regarding pricing, the subscription price of HK$18.88 represented a discount of only about 2.13% to the closing price of HK$19.29 on the day before the announcement (March 9, 2026) and a mere 0.35% discount to the average price over the preceding five trading days. For a block placement exceeding HK$600 million, this discount margin is quite limited.

More concerning is that, as of the date of the placement completion announcement, Black Sesame's secondary market closing price was HK$18.04, already down approximately 4.45% from the subscription price of HK$18.88. This means the subscriber was in a paper loss position from the very day the shares were listed. In a normal market-based placement, institutional investors typically participate at a discount to gain a certain margin of safety.

One possible interpretation is that there exists some non-public strategic cooperation or interest arrangement between the subscriber and the company, making it willing to accept short-term paper losses. However, the company's announcement did not detail the specifics of such synergy, merely stating it "can generate long-term strategic synergies in related capital, business, and other resources." Against the backdrop of Infini Capital itself being under regulatory investigation and its financing model being questioned, this vague statement is difficult for the market to accept.

"Going Solo" After Placement Agent's Exit: Transaction Compliance in Question Another unusual aspect of this fundraising is that after the termination of the placement agreement, the company did not disclose signing any new placement agents or financial advisors subsequently. In other words, this HK$632 million block share issuance was directly pushed through by the company and the subscriber without the "endorsement" of an independent professional intermediary.

In the Hong Kong stock market, the presence of an independent placement agent not only serves the function of finding investors but, more importantly, their participation can, to some extent, ensure pricing fairness, compliance of the issuance process, and a balance of interests among parties. When a placement agent voluntarily withdraws for some reason, and the company chooses to "skip" the intermediary and complete the transaction directly with the subscriber, market doubts about whether the pricing is fair and the transaction is independent become difficult to avoid.

Although the company's announcement emphasizes the subscriber is an "independent third party," and whether the entity under investigation related to Infini Capital is directly connected to itself remains to be determined, the "cleanliness" of this transaction is questionable pending the investigation's outcome.

Fundamental Pressure: Frequent Fundraising and Persistent Cash Burn Setting aside the fundraising process, Black Sesame's financial fundamentals are also not optimistic. According to the company's full-year 2025 results, although revenue increased 73.4% year-on-year to RMB 822 million, net profit sharply reversed to a net loss of RMB 1.425 billion. R&D expenditure alone reached RMB 1.417 billion, accounting for over 173% of revenue.

This financial structure, where "for every RMB 1 earned, RMB 2.19 is spent," dictates that the company must rely on external financing to sustain operations. Over the past 12 months, the company has launched three consecutive fundraising plans (a placement in February 2025, a subscription in January 2026, and this current subscription in May 2026), with total funds raised exceeding HK$2.4 billion. Even so, as of January 31, 2026, approximately HK$411 million from the February 2025 placement remained unused, and none of the HK$538 million from the January 2026 subscription had been utilized. Whether there is planning misalignment or inefficient use of funds between the partially idle capital and the company's persistently high-intensity funding needs is also worth investigating.