JD.com secondary listing in Hong Kong raises £3.04 billion

According to sources, JD.com (NASDAQ: JD) raised £3.04 billion on Thursday via its secondary listing in Hong Kong at a per-share price of £23. The company sold 133 million shares in total at a price that translates to a 3.9% discount on the closing price of its Nasdaq-listed stock on Wednesday. As per JD.com, one of the company’s American depository share equals two of its ordinary shares.

The Chinese e-commerce retailer’s listing marks the 2nd largest in Hong Kong this year, losing only to £3.40 billion listing of Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway earlier this year in January. JD’s share sale in Hong Kong was sponsored jointly by UBG Group AG, Bank of America Corp., and CLSA Ltd.

Hong Kong now allows dual-class share voting

In recent years, many of the technology giants ditched Hong Kong to list on the US stock exchanges. The primary reason was to seek dual-class share voting that Hong Kong did not allow at the time. The requirement, however, has now been relaxed.

The Coronavirus pandemic that has so far infected a little under 7.5 million people worldwide and caused more than 419,000 deaths halted the global IPO (Initial Public Offering) market in recent months. Learn more about the basics of an IPO.

Owing to the rising tensions between the world’s largest economies; the United States and China, Chinese firms have recently been withdrawing from plans of listing in the US. Companies that are already listed on the US have also shown a massive interest in listing on exchanges closer to China in 2020.  

JD.com to start trading on 18^th June

JD.com also highlighted on Thursday that its Hong Kong stock will be available for the public to trade from 18^th June, when it is also scheduled to hold its largest annual sales festival. In the next thirty days, the Chinese firm will have to decide if it would like to opt for the “green shoe” option, in which case, an additional 19.95 million shares of the company will put on sale.

The option will also raise an additional £412.65 million for JD.com. The e-commerce retailer has so far not made an official statement on the news.

In separate news, Chinese online gaming company, NetEase, also started trading on Thursday. Its secondary listing in Hong Kong raised £2.13 billion for the company. Shares of NetEase were reported a little under 10% up at £13.60 as compared to its IPO price of £12.53 per share.